카이펑 유대인 커뮤니티의 흥망성쇠

카이펑 유대인 커뮤니티의 흥망성쇠는 회복력과 문화 교류에 관한 흥미로운 이야기입니다.

### 중국 카이펑 유대인 공동체의 흥망성쇠
* 📜 이 에피소드는 중국 내 유대인 커뮤니티의 흥미로운 역사를 탐구하며, 특히 **적어도 한나라 시대까지 거슬러 올라가는 카이펑에서의 유대인 존재**에 초점을 맞춥니다.
* 🛣 유대인 상인들은 초기 실크로드 무역에서 중요한 역할을 했으며, 특히 **기원전 138년에서 126년 사이의 장건의 여행 기간** 동안 한 왕조까지 거슬러 올라가면 그들의 참여가 기록되어 있습니다.
* 🏙 카이펑시는 특히 송나라 시대에 유대인 정착의 주요 중심지로 부상했으며, **인구가 100만 명을 넘어서는 등 무역과 상업의 활기찬 중심지**로 자리 잡았습니다.
* 🕌 1163년, 카이펑의 유대인 공동체는 황실의 승인을 받아 **회당 건립을 허가**받았고, 이는 필수 종교 시설을 갖춘 공식적인 유대인 거주지가 설립되었음을 의미했습니다.
* 📜 이 공동체는 **1485년, 1512년, 1663년에 세워진 세 개의 비석 등 역사적 기록**이 남아 있는 명나라 시대에 절정을 이루며 중국 사회로의 통합과 그들의 관습을 기록했습니다.
* 🌊 그러나 자연재해와 정치적 격변으로 인해 유대인 공동체는 쇠퇴했고, **1810년 마지막 랍비가 세상을 떠나**고 **1866년 회당은 결국 폐허**가 되었습니다.
* 💔 20세기에 사순 가문의 시도를 포함해 커뮤니티를 되살리려는 노력에도 불구하고 **카이펑에서 유대인의 존재는 줄어들었고, 풍요롭지만 사라져가는 유산**을 남기게 되었습니다.
* 🌍 오늘날 카이펑 유대인의 후손과 그들의 독특한 역사는 **유대인 디아스포라와 다양한 문화로의 통합**이라는 광범위한 서사를 반영하며 계속해서 관심의 대상이 되고 있습니다.

hey everyone, Loa Montgomery here with another China History Podcast episode number 112, this time handcrafted for your pure Sinopolis enjoyment. Today's story concerns the rise and fall of the Jewish community in China, centered in the city of Kaifeng. The Jews in China went way back, no one knows for sure just how far back, although there's plenty of speculation. To quote a certain former US cabinet official, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say, we know there are some things we do not know, but there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know. I couldn't have said it any better myself. As I dug deeper into their history, I concluded you could say the same thing about the Kaifeng Jews, but it's a great story, so let's look at what was up with that. I guess it's part of urban life legend and part common knowledge that there was this Lost Colony of Chinese Jews or

that there was this thriving native Jewish community there. Those more schooled in Chinese history might know this Jewish center in China was in Kaifeng but not necessarily knowing where Kaifeng was and certainly not knowing why Kaifeng of all places and not someplace more obvious. So the purpose of today's episode is simply, as we did last time with the Wu State and as we often do, just sort everything out and give you the main idea. A lot of people have heard of the Kaifeng Jews but other than that they can't say much about the subject at a cocktail party or even a Seder. This is a story that goes back as far as the origins of the Silk Roads. The Jews, of course, came from Israel. Some left this land voluntarily or, as was most often the case, involuntarily and sought out greener pastures elsewhere. Jewish merchants were among the earliest people to traverse the Silk Road when it started ramping up during the Han Dynasty. Remember Zhang Qian? He made his first

journey to the West between 138 and 126 BC, the time of Han Emperor Wu (Han Wu Di). This is where the whole Silk Road history takes off. So, Jews had been coming to China since at least then. They didn't stay long or build a community, but they, you know, had made their way to Xi'an and all the other great Central Asian trading centers that had, you know, already sprung up along the pathways of the Silk Roads. Trading luxuries along the Silk Road was something that Jewish people, small though their numbers were, played an unusually large role in. There evolved a group of Jewish merchants called Rites. Their origin is unclear, but for centuries, they managed a big-time trading operation that sold goods throughout all the major markets of the known world, between the Frankish Empire and China. They went as far back as the Marenian Dynasty and covered all the overland and sea routes between the west and the east. They were in the middle of everything. We know of these Jewish traders from the Persian geographer and

writer Ibn who lived from 820 to 912. This was the time of Islam's third caliphate, Abbasid. He wrote a book of the times that managed to, you know, make it to this day without getting burned or lost to eternity. This book mentions the Radhanites as being Jewish traitors. He said they were particularly gifted in all the languages of the Silk Road, and they carried out trade by land and by sea in the Persian language. Or at least back then, Rah means path or way, and Don means one who knows. So they were the ones who knew the path or knew the way to China and back, presumably the rites. However, they were all gone by the 11th century. Once the Crusades kicked in, it really threw all the trading operations into disarray. And it was right around then, or shortly thereafter, that there is no further mention of these Rhenite traders. What an amazing life these guys must have led from Han to Song when hostilities between Christians and

Muslims got in the middle of market supply and demand. The Rodenites were often the go-to merchants of choice because, at that time, Jews and Muslims got along famously, or at least better than Christians and Muslims. So, they played a unique role in linking the markets of the East and West during unstable times in that part of the world. The earliest evidence of a Jewish presence in China was pegged at the 8th Century AD, Tong Dynasty. Also from that period, there's the cornucopia of artifacts discovered by Sir or Stein at Dunhuang. These Persian and Hebrew writings found in the caves of Dunhuang dated back to the Tang period and mentioned the Jews. Again, the Rodonit were by now a major force at that time. If anyone chanced upon someone of the Jewish faith in China, for sure, they wouldn't be in the entertainment business or a doctor. It's almost for sure this Jewish person walking around Tang Dynasty China was doing the same exact thing any Sogdian, Persian, Arab, or Central Asian was.

doing they were all plying their wares along the Silk Roads connecting East and West. These traders from all points between China and Rome were the worker bees of the whole system. Despite the regular visits from Jewish travelers and traders, there was still no known Jewish settlement or central place in China where you were always guaranteed to find a minyan or a hot kosher meal. The popular consensus regarding how long the Jews have been coming to China says it's at least since the Han, with no settlements until the S. There's no proof of life in the Joe Dynasty, although Jews are mentioned in one of the stone stele. We'll get to in a moment. There's also this far-out theory that claims in 721 BC, when the Assyrians invaded the Northern Kingdom of Israel and exiled the 10 tribes, one of them escaped to Asia and came to China, or at least to India. It's just a theory. The Lost tribe of Israel. The Han incidentally coincided with the Roman persecution of Jews in Judea 70 AD.

this was a bad year for the Jewish race. August 70 AD, Titus destroys the temple in Jerusalem, and the Jews scatter, but not before a million of their people fall to the Roman armies, and 100,000 are sold into slavery. The first Jewish-Roman War not ending well for the Jews, and when they rise up against Hadrian in 132 AD, once again, it won't end well for them. The Han Emperor, Guang Wu, was reigning at the time. Now, whether these wars with the Romans provided any extra impetus for Jews from conquered Judea to escape the Heat and flee to Han China, that's purely speculative. It's certainly a possibility. The Silk Road did exist. The Jews were heavily involved in the East-West Trade along all these routes. There were these Romans, Babylonian, Assyrian persecutions. These are all facts that we know, although the detail is severely lacking, but there's plenty to hang your hat on later on when the Southern Song kicks in. So, despite the dir of evidence to the contrary, it's safe to say Jews

were visiting China during the Han Dynasty, but being almost 2,000 years ago, this uh Shian is about as thin as you can get, and we're only left to speculate about their life in China. The Tang was a golden time, at least for a while. There was a tremendous amount of tolerance for all the religions and races. Followers of Islam, Judaism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism could all be found in the capital Chang'an. It was the most amazing and cosmopolitan city in the whole world. Because the Jews were so dominant in the trade of silks, spices, and other luxuries, they came to Tang China quite often. In 781, this was during the time of the Tang Emperor Dong. The city of Bian was founded. It will go by several names. Bian is another. Bian was the name of the city during the Song Dynasty. It's best known to us today as the city of Kang. It was located right on the south bank of the Yellow River, just west of the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal we

discussed in the last episode. It was the wo king fu chai who built the hco that served as the beginning of the Grand Canal. The canal, the greatest engineering marvel of its day, would be built and completed in 609 AD under the Emperor Yang D. I think digging a man-made canal the distance from LA to Dallas is right up there with constructing the Great Pyramid 1400 mil. Digging this canal changed China, that's all I can say. Well, Eastern China anyway. Let me quote the S Dynasty poet chin Guan who said of this ancient city quote Kang surrounded by level land in all directions is a convergence of roads which connect it with the chu River to the South, the Han River to the West, the JW River to the North, and the chi River to the east. Neither great mountain ranges nor big Rivers isolate kaiun from the surrounding regions. In fact, its communication with them is aided by the bienen andai and other rivers. The waterways teem with boats, the bow of one

touching the stern of another while men, carts, and animals jam the roads in an endless flow from every corner of the country. Kiang was in its day not just the capital but the commercial and political center of S China as well when China was the richest, most vibrant economy on the planet and had been for centuries. The Silk Road didn't just end in Xian and Changan; it also led further up the road to Kai Fang as well. Kai Fang, like Xian, attracted merchants from all over the world. Over a million people lived there during the Song; today, there's four to five times that number. Back in the Tang, it was only about a 10-day trek for a caravan between the two cities. This area of ancient China is as ancient as China could be. Running east to west, one after the other was Kang, Jung, Loang, S, Mana, Wayan, and Shian Wayan, of course, the birthplace of Samen, who we quote often in these podcasts. This slice of Shanii and Hunan.

has served as the epicenter of ancient Chinese history from mythical times all the way up to the Song. So, the moral to the story is this was in its day perhaps the largest commercial center in the world. So, it was only natural that these Jews from all over the Middle East and Central Asia would find their way to Kiang. They didn't just choose Kang just for its proximity to the Yellow River. In the Song Dynasty, this was the place to be. On the opposite end of these roads that all led to Kaiun were the markets of Europe, Asia, and Africa. So, why did the Jews end up congregating in Kong and ending up staying for a few centuries? I mean, this was the New York City of its day. The sea routes were a different matter, and by the time of the Tong and Song, The Seas were dominated by Persian and Arab fleets. These Traders Left Behind plenty of writings and evidence attesting to the role of these Jewish Merchants. There were Jewish Merchants all over China, and they could be found wherever major

markets could be found guango Cheno ningo yango and HCHO. There could have been settlements at these places. There could have been synagogues built too, but it was only in one place where historical records survive that shows unimpeachable evidence of a Jewish settlement and Native people following Jewish laws and traditions just as their fellow Jews in Europe. And that's really the main part of our story. In 1163, the Jewish residents of Kiang received the okay to build their synagogue along with all the necessary extras required of a Jewish community: a Mikvah, a Suka, a place to butcher meat according to the laws. This Temple was flanked on two sides by Teaching Torah Lane North and Teaching Torah Lane South. The southern song emperor Shaung himself had given the approval and even gave an imperial order that they should follow the customs of their forefathers and settle in Penang, which as I said was what Kang was called back then. The original Jewish settlers in Kang were 70.

Jewish clans who left en masse with their families and everything they owned. They brought everything from their previous synagogue, including the Torah scrolls. Of course, this was a caravan that had a destination in mind. You know, later on, the locals would sort of group them in with the Muslims, you know, 'cause on the surface, anyone not familiar with the religions, like in China, you know, they appeared similar. So, the Jews were differentiated by being called the blue-headed Muslims. Anyway, there were 500 people in this one congregation. They came to Kaiun and settled there. These people from far away with their strange rituals and traditions became very active in the local community. Before long, their numbers and influence began to grow. They served in the civil service. They served in the military. These original Jewish settlers from unknown origins, as I said, took their whole families with them when they came to Kaiun because they knew they weren't going back to where they came from. It's no secret that Jews throughout history often had to cut and

run when they ended up being singled out for persecution. Now, when I say they came from some unknown place, that's not entirely true. There is evidence that might trace this group from the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, from the town of Bodrum. Bodrum today is about a 3-hour car ride south of Izmir. These Jews had come to this idyllic spot from the city of SWA in Babylonia. This is, you know, present-day Iraq. Of course, they left Babylonia in times of persecution and settled in Turkey. Although the proximity of Bodrum to the Holy Land wasn't that close, it was close enough. And the blowback from the Crusades that, you know, kicked off in 1090 made things too hot for the Jews of Bodrum. So, they just picked up and left. This congregation marched through Turkey to Persia, through Turkmenistan, Xinjiang, and finally to China proper, first arriving in Xi'an and then further on up the road to Kiang. As I said, during this time in the song, the population of Kaiun

is already over a million souls, and it was to Kaiun, in this most ancient part of one of the most ancient provinces of China, that they came, probably sometime in the 10th or 11th centuries. The story of this Jewish community is mainly told in three stone steelies. I've heard that pronounced without the E on the end, but I'm just going with what Miriam Webster is telling me. These carved stone steelies are mostly what we have to go on as far as a timeline and a history and a point of reference as to the prayers they offered and their, you know, adherence to tradition. There were four steelies, but one was lost. They were always placed in the courtyard of the synagogue. For centuries, they stood, telling the stories of their history and showing the prayers so that all future generations might, you know, keep the faith alive. The three steelies that made it down to the present day were dated 1485, 1512, and 1663. So, this is the period in the West.

Roughly from the time Columbus discovered America to Charles II and the restoration of the monarchy in England, the Ottomans and Europeans at that time are slugging it out on the continent. During this time, the Jews of Kiang were having their heyday. The community peaked during the time of the Ming, uh, which was 1380 to 1644, and then after that, late 17th century into the 18th. From that point on, it was a slow, steady decline. Let's talk about those three steelies and a little about what they've told us. Trust me, there is a whole body of scholarship about these surviving limestone slabs. Countless man-hours of study have gone into them, so I am not going to bog you in the content. Go on Google Books or just use your favorite search engine to get everything you wanted to know about these Kaiun steelies but were afraid to ask. The oldest, the 1489 steely, is divided up into three parts. It tells the biblical stories of Abraham, Moses, you know, all

the way up to Ezra who returned the Torah to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity in the fifth century BC. It mentions the prayers and principles of fasting and repentance. Now the second part, part of this oldest Steely, tells the story of the founding of the kaiun synagogue in 1163. This is right about the time the compass gets discovered. Henry II is on the throne in England, in one year before the founding of this kaiun synagogue. Somewhere on the steps of Mongolia, Genghis Khan was born, except he wasn't Genghis Khan yet. The third part of this 1489 Steely is very interesting and gives a whole comparative analysis of Judaism to the three great religions of China at the time: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. It explained the basic principles of Judaism within the context of Chinese understanding at the time in Ming China. The monument dated 1512 suggests that the Jews first came to China during the Zhou Dynasty. It mentions that Judaism came to China during this time via India, but again

there's no evidence to confirm this, and there were no Silk Roads during those Bronze Age Joe Dynasty days. This 1512 Steely, the experts are still trying to figure out. It says a lot, but they're not entirely sure what it says. It did mention that there were other Jewish communities in China besides this one in Kaiun, and that they had established contact with each other. The 1512 Steely also stresses the loyalty of the Jews to the Chinese state, even quoting the immortal words forever associated with UFA tattooed on his back by his mother, Jing Jong B. It explains how the Jews of Kaiun were throughout the fabric of Kaiun society. They were officials with degrees, members of the literati, soldiers, and merchants, and they loyally served the state. And this Steely has carved in it all 19 blessings from the Amida, the Shona Esra, including the Seim Shalom, a traveling Jew from the Middle Ages if.

one of them came to this sh and F. He knew these guys were legit. The 1663 Steely was similar to the one carved in 1489. It went to great lengths to compare once again all the similarities between Judaism and Chinese religious practices, particularly Confucianism. It mentions family traditions, a moral basis for life, and charity to all. 1663 was quite a historic time in China. The Ming Dynasty had fallen with a whimper in 1644, and this Steely tells the story of the fall of the dynasty, as well as the antics of lah Chang and the ultimate founding of the Ching Dynasty. Lah Chang, we discussed in the CHP 34 Ming Dynasty part 4. This Steely lets it be known with all this chaos going on in China, the community was still trying to keep the religion going. As Ming transitioned to Ching, it was a rough time. The synagogue was destroyed by rebels, and anything of value that had been passed down from the time they started keeping records was

just burned, looted, or stolen. This was a hard thing to bounce back from. The Jews of Kaiun had gone to the brink a few times, but this one was looking like it was going to be a hard ditch to crawl out of. You see, Kai Fang, also being so close to the Yellow River, China's sorrow, and close to all these other rivers, fell victim over the centuries to a number of natural catastrophes. Most damaging were these floods that would immerse the whole synagogue, destroying everything that couldn't be moved to higher ground. In fact, these steelies were always built whenever they would rebuild these synagogues, and this Kaiun synagogue was not a marble palace like Temple Shalom on Lakeshore Drive in Chicago. These were totally Chinese structures: carved wood, bilateral symmetry, courtyards, skywells, and all the decorative details that Chinese architecture is famous for. So, these structures, made mostly with organic materials, didn't have a chance whenever there was a major inundation. It had to be rebuilt many times after things began.

to settle down in the Ching Dynasty. The synagogue was rebuilt again in 1653. The 1489 and 1512 steelies are today locked in a room at the Kaiun Municipal Museum. These are, of course, a must-see stop on the Jewish history tours that have passed through Kaiun. Anything you want to know and more can be learned from visiting this museum and meeting with a few of these descendants of the Kaiun Jews, many of whom are actually going back to Judaism. You can fly to Jung Joo, then take a 90-minute shuttle, and you're in downtown Kaiun. Jumping backwards, sorry about that. Marco Polo, during his 13th-century travels in China, mentions running into these Jews in China in 1286. Marco Polo also, by the way, had mentioned that KU Khan was familiar with and celebrated the holidays of these monotheists. During the Ming Dynasty, one of the Emperors had conferred upon the Chinese Jews seven surnames: I sh G Jin.

Lee Jang and Ja. If you meet any descendants of Kaiun Jews on the streets today, you have a one in seven chance of guessing their surname correctly. I guess in this story, the marquee year has to be 16005. This is the year that a fateful meeting took place. It happened between a local Kaiun Jew named Ien and the subject of our CHP 98 episode, Mato Richi. This is where he meets Mato Richi, known around town by his Chinese name, Liad Do RI. And the Jesuits were living in Beijing at the time. Remember, they tried and failed to get into Beijing in 1598, but the Wle emperor later gives RI the thumbs up in May of 1600. So, 16005, the Western religions are enjoying a period of great tolerance, and this tolerance, of course, we all know, won't last forever. But in Beijing 16005, it was a good time. And now, this meeting is going to take place. Ien, by the way, was a scholar who had passed the

Civil Service exams and happened to be in Beijing in 16005, looking for some appointment to the government civil service. That's where you had to go back then if you had a degree and wanted to, you know, work the system. So, iten had left kaiun and was up in Beijing when he heard it through the grapevine about these potential Jews there who were of this, you know, monotheistic faith and seemed to practice similar rituals. So, itin seeks out these Jesuits and has this encounter with Richi at their Jesuit Mission House in Beijing. When RI first meets Ian, he thought he was a Chinese Christian, and of course, ien believed Richi at first was a Jew. There's an old story that says when ien first saw the painting in the Mission House of the Virgin and child, he believed this was Rebecca with either Jacob or Esau, the Jews. And kaiun back in 16005 had never heard of Christianity, so isolated were they, and so many, many centuries had it been since the 11th.

When they first settled there, REI figured out after a while. Remember, he spoke fluent Mandarin, you know, which is what they spoke in Kaiun too. That this, I was in fact a Jew and not a Christian. So, an iten later returns to Kiang. RI sends along a couple of his gang, a couple of Jesuits, and they accompany iten back to Kai Fong. And sure enough, they see there's this whole thriving community with a synagogue and a Mikvah, the whole works. These Jesuits checked them all out thoroughly and reported back to RI, who of course, you know, sent the report to the head office in Rome. And all these letters from RI and those who came after him survive in various collections. They verified that these Chinese Jews and Kiang were observant of the Sabbath from, you know, Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, and were observant of all the Jewish festivals, very much the same as the Ashkenazi or Sephardic Jew you might encounter anywhere in Europe or the

Middle East. They circumcised their sons. They didn't eat pork. They had all the important Hebrew manuscripts, said the same prayers, seemed to have the same Torah. But they would check that out in detail later. From what they could see, these Kang Jews were very much the same as you might find in the west. But these Jews were in Kang in Hunan Province, right in the middle of the center of the Cradle of Chinese civilization. Once they learned all this, the Jesuit order sent plenty of specialists to Kaiun to learn and study these Kaiun Jews, Orin as they were called, those who picked out the tendons, you know, referring to one of the dietary laws. The Chinese must have considered particularly foolish and wasteful, you know, being one of the best parts and all. So there's plenty in the Vatican archives regarding the Kaiun Jews, and they took a lot of notes over the next decade or so. You see, the thinking was these Jews, so isolated, who had built their first synagogue during the time of

the Song Dynasty, 5 and a half centuries before. There was this belief that they might have copies of the Torah that had by chance remained uncorrupted and uncensored by the Jewish rabbis from Days Gone By. The Jesuits didn't learn anything, and none of these Torah they examined in kaiun said anything about Jesus being the Messiah. You see, that was the deal breaker. The AED Chief Rabbi in kaiun, he just couldn't get past the point that the Messiah wasn't due for another 10,000 years. So how could this Jesus Christ be who these visiting Jesuits claimed he was? But to show the rabbi was a good sport as he was getting up in years, he invited these emissaries of RI to go back and tell liad that he was welcome to replace him as Chief Rabbi of the kaiun synagogue. You know, assuming he would accept these Jewish beliefs. So after this amazing encounter 408 years ago, there were perhaps seven or eight more generations of Jews in

kaiun before the steady decline reached a low point that the community never bounced back from. The synagogue was destroyed by natural disasters and rebuilt again in 1653, but sadly by the late 1700s hardly anyone could read Hebrew anymore. The last Chinese Rabbi passed away in 1810, with no one waiting in the wings trained or qualified to fill his shoes. Countless centuries of intermarriage, assimilation, and complete isolation from the rest of world Jewry sort of doomed the kaiun Jews. By 1854, the synagogue had fallen to ruin. The Ching Dynasty by now was going downhill with a stiff wind at its back. There was enough chaos and despair in China to keep people's minds occupied during this time. The Typing Rebellion isn't going to help as far as providing an environment for the kaiun Jewish Community to make a comeback. Truly a lack of rabbis, if nothing else, will put a major damper on any Jewish Community. If there's no Rabbi, then there's no one to congregate around.

so without this essential leadership to serve the spiritual needs of the kyung Jews, their slide into assimilation and the abandonment of their faith, faith, and traditions happened that much faster. The ability to read and speak the Hebrew language was, you know, one of the first things to go. It was said that by the mid-1800s, so far had the kaiun Jewish Community slid that they used to display the tus grolls in the central marketplace with a sign beseeching anyone who knew how to read Hebrew to, you know, come seek them out. By the late 1800s and into the 1900s, the Jews of kiang were rediscovered by protest missionaries and other Western Travelers in China. Attempts had been made to revive the community. The Canadian Anglican Bishop William Charles White of Toronto tried, but his attempts were not successful. He helped establish the Catholic diocese in Hunan Province. This mission was to last for 25 years. He purchased the land where the synagogue

had stood for all those centuries. He also acquired many of the surviving garment and ritual pieces, Torah Scrolls, as well as the remaining Stone steelies whose Vanishing characters told the fading story of these Kang Jews. Whether or not white was successful in bringing the remaining descendants of the kaiun Jews to Jesus Christ, I couldn't find, but he sure did try. Protestant missionaries purchased and later preserved any and all manuscripts they could get their hands on, and a lot of this stuff is held in the CLA library at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, as well as in other libraries, museums, and private collections around the world. A lot has been returned to kaiun authorities. There's a letter someone from kaiun wrote to someone or other in the west, and it said, quote, Morning and night with tears in our eyes and with offerings of incense do we implore that our religion may again flourish. We sought elsewhere but could find none who understood Hebrew, which causes us deep sorrow. In 1866, after 700 years of the whims of the

Yellow River and mother nature. The kyun synagogue was destroyed for the last time, never to be rebuilt. And there was another attempt made to rescue and revive the kaiun Jewish Community, this one maybe 10 years earlier than the one of William Charles White, this one in 1900. There was this sincere effort sponsored by the Sassoon family, the preeminent Jewish Family in China. Their base was in Shanghai, and their business Network stretched around the world. The Sassoon were baghdaddy Jews who escaped Iraq for, you know, the usual reasons Jews tend to escape, like many of their faith in Iraq, Bombay, and KIRO. The Sassoon ultimately ended up in Shanghai. The patriarch of the family was David Sassoon. He was based in Bombay, or Mumbai as it's called today. He was the son of an illustrious family in Baghdad. His son was Elias Sassoon, who lived from 1820 to 1880. He was the first of the Sassoon to go to China and to establish their business Empire there. I read at their at

their Peak Elias Sasson owned something like 18,800 buildings in Shanghai. Elias Sassoon was one of the first to head to Shanghai after the ink was dry on the Treaty of Nanjing. When the Sassoon business empire was under his tutelage, the world was moving still at 5 mph. After he passed the uh Sasson ran this business empire from an office in the CA hotel right at Nanjing Road at the Bund. That's the Peace Hotel now. It was completed in 1929. So anyway 1900 the Shanghai Society for the Rescue of the Chinese Jews was set up. The Shanghai Jewish community led by the Sassoon family helped to fund the effort. Unfortunately, there was a lot of effort expended and very little to show for when all is said and done. In the end, they were only able to get eight Kaiun Jews into Shanghai. While these visiting Jews did learn to read from the scriptures, the whole idea just never gathered sufficient momentum. There was something interesting though I read

regarding the servants, you know who worked at the house where these eight kaiun Jews were placed. They were so surprised that these kaiun Jews and to a Shanghai KN. These guys were Hicks, you know. They were treated with the kind of civility reserved for Western guests, you know. Up until World War II and the Nazi atrocities, the lion's share of the Jews in Shanghai were the saric sort. It wasn't until European Jewry scattered in the run-up to World War II and just afterwards that European Ashkenazi Jews predominated in Shanghai society. Well, this whole noble effort was well intended, you know. By the time the 1930s started to roll around, everyone, you know, including the seasons, had bigger fish to fry than rescuing the kaiun Jews. Then 1937, the whole Japanese invasion begins, and that's it. It was every man for himself, including in Kai Fang today, especially after Gea kaiun opening up to the outside world began in the 1980s.

There have been efforts made to reach out to the hundreds of remaining descendants of these kaiun Jews. The synagogue long gone and almost, you know, no one practices the religion anymore. But the legends and stories of these Jews who settled in Kong and built this community live on. Something I read during my research: China never persecuted the Jews from ancient times all the way up until World War II when Harbin and Shanghai swung open their doors and gave refuge to Jews fleeing Russia and Europe. Chinese always had a good track record as far as, you know, getting along with the Jewish people and making room for them. Somewhere there were Jewish communities all over China for a thousand years from the Tang Dynasty on, but it was only the community in kaiun that was so long-lasting and also well documented. Today there are a few chosen ones in China who have been given official Jewish ethnicity on their identity papers, but there aren't many, and this is a sensitive subject for a number of reasons. The number of Jews is so small.

that they didn't make it to the list of 56 official ethnic minorities. I mean, if they gave the limited number of Jews or descendants of Jews the special recognition, then all these scattered minorities or groups that claim to be minorities might hop on the bandwagon and, you know, make similar demands. And there's also a large H or Muslim population, so, you know, got to consider what they might think too. There have been several good documentaries and books written that give more detail on this subject. The worldwide web has a ton of newspaper articles and other material if you want to read more. There's a lot that by share luuck did make it down to the present day for scholars to glean through and teach us. But for the most part, all the eggs of these kaiun Jews were in one basket as far as, you know, where the synagogue kept all the records and histories of this one-time ancient community. So much happened that we'll never know that was destroyed. Some Jewish communities around the world who are particularly passionate about this.

subject have reached out to these descendants of Kaiun Jews, and some of these people in Kang have reached out to some of these groups too, so the spirit is rekindled, you know, if it ever left at all. The subject of Chinese Jews is one of those that is peculiar enough for us to do a double take. There's so much the two races share in common, you know, many Confucian ethics, diasporas from time to time, a worldwide community, uh, persecuted from time to time as well, similar values on education, family, and other things. So, I guess the story of the Kaiun Jews isn't so far-fetched or hard to believe in the overall context of Chinese history. The story of the Kaiun Jews was but a small ripple in a vast ocean of all that has happened since the most ancient time of the Middle Kingdom, and here at the China History Podcast, we'll keep scratching the ground for any topics like this at our esteemed and select panel of China history podcasters deems podcast-worthy. This is LOA.

Montgomery, as usual, signing off from Claremont on another gorgeous and sunny SoCal day. It's March here, and we're still getting these nice two and three-day hits of high 70s and low 80s. What did I do to deserve this? Take care, everybody, and I hope to see you next time for another exciting episode of the China History podcast.

The Kaifeng Jews | The China History Podcast | Ep. 112

The China History Podcast

중국 유대인 커뮤니티의 흥망성쇠

중국, 특히 카이펑의 유대인 커뮤니티는 한나라 시대부터 실크로드 무역에서 중요한 역할을 한 유대인 상인들과 함께 오랜 역사를 가지고 있습니다.

유대인 상인 그룹인 라다나이트는 프랑크 제국과 중국 간의 주요 무역 사업을 관리했지만 십자군 전쟁으로 인한 혼란으로 11세기에는 그 존재감이 줄어들었습니다.

중국에 유대인이 존재했다는 최초의 증거는 당나라 시대인 서기 8세기로 거슬러 올라가며, 둔황 동굴에서 페르시아어와 히브리어 문자가 발견되었습니다.

중국에서의 유대인의 존재: 역사적 개요

중국과 로마를 잇는 실크로드를 따라 유대인 상인들이 활발히 활동했지만, 남송 시대까지 중국에는 유대인 정착지가 알려진 바가 없습니다.

중국에 유대인이 거주하기 시작한 것은 로마의 유대인 박해와 맞물려 한나라 시대에 시작된 것으로 추정됩니다.

당나라 시대는 중국 내 유대인의 황금기였으며, 송나라 시대에는 비안(강)이 주요 상업 및 정치 중심지가 되어 전 세계의 상인들이 모여들었습니다.

중국 키앙의 유대인 공동체는 10세기 또는 11세기부터 주요 상업 중심지로서 도시의 위상에 힘입어 번성했습니다.

이 공동체는 1163년 황실의 승인을 받아 회당 건축을 허가받았고, 지역 공무원과 군대에 적극적으로 참여하면서 500명의 회원으로 성장했습니다.

공동체의 역사는 주로 1485년, 1512년, 1663년에 세워져 회당 안뜰에 세워진 세 개의 살아남은 석조 강철을 통해 기록되어 있습니다.

키앙의 유대인 공동체: 역사적 개요

키앙의 유대인 공동체는 명나라 시대(1380~1644년)에 번성했지만 이후 꾸준히 쇠퇴를 경험했습니다.

1489년, 1512년, 1663년에 작성된 세 개의 중요한 스틸리에는 이 공동체의 역사, 신념, 투쟁에 대한 통찰력이 담겨 있습니다.

이 스틸리에는 중국 국가에 대한 유대인의 충성심, 사회에 대한 기여, 자연재해와 정치적 격변으로 인해 유대인이 직면한 어려움이 잘 드러나 있습니다.

청나라 시대 카이운의 유대인 공동체

카이운의 유대인 공동체는 회당이 여러 번 재건되었고 1489년과 1512년에 만들어진 강철 기둥은 현재 카이운 시립 박물관에 보관되어 있는 등 유서 깊은 역사를 가지고 있습니다.

마르코 폴로의 13세기 중국 여행기에는 유대인이 언급되어 있으며, 명나라 시대에는 황제가 유대인에게 7개의 성을 부여하기도 했습니다.

16005년 현지 유대인 이엔과 예수회 선교사 마토 리치 사이의 중요한 만남으로 인해 카이운의 유대인 공동체와 베이징의 예수회는 더욱 깊은 관계를 맺게 되었습니다.

중국 카이운의 고립된 유대인 공동체

후난성의 카이운 유대인들은 할례와 식습관 등 서구 유대인들과 공통된 관습을 공유했지만 수 세기 동안 고립된 채로 지냈습니다.

예수회 수도회는 이들에게 부패하지 않은 토라 사본이 있을 것이라 믿고 전문가를 파견해 연구했습니다.

예수회의 노력에도 불구하고 카이운 유대인들은 먼 곳에 있는 메시아에 대한 믿음으로 인해 공동체가 쇠퇴했고, 1800년대 중반에는 신앙과 전통을 유지하기 위해 고군분투했습니다.

카이운 유대인 공동체의 투쟁과 회복력

카이운 유대인 공동체의 역사는 개신교 선교사들이 수집한 유물과 필사본이 많이 남아 있는 등 파괴와 보존 노력으로 점철되어 있습니다.

저명한 유대인 상인이었던 사순 가문은 상하이에서 공동체를 구출하고 부흥시키기 위해 진지하게 노력했지만, 그 노력은 미미한 성과를 거두었습니다.

제2차 세계대전 이후 상하이의 유대인 인구는 카이운에서 아슈케나지 유대인으로 바뀌었고, 공동체의 생존을 위한 투쟁은 1980년대까지 계속되었습니다.

중국에서 오랜 기간 동안 잘 기록된 커뮤니티를 형성했던 카이운 유대인의 후손들과 연결하기 위한 노력이 진행되고 있습니다.

중국인들은 역사적으로 유대인들과 좋은 관계를 유지해 왔으며 박해의 시기에 피난처를 제공하기도 했습니다.

오늘날 중국 내 유대인의 수는 적고, 민족으로서 공식적인 인정도 제한적이어서 민감한 상황에 처해 있습니다.