The Hidden Legacy: Jews in China After 700 Years - The Kaifeng Community Story

About seven hundred years ago, a Muslim man rode into the Chinese city of Canton and began asking passersby where he could find "Jews." To grasp the peculiarity of this quest, you need some background on China and Canton. China was entirely disconnected from Europe or any other place with a Jewish population. Canton, now China's fourth-largest city, boasts 18.5 million inhabitants, more than double Israel's population today. Although smaller back then, it was still vast, with people utterly unaware of what a "Jew" was. We're talking the 13th century, the Middle Ages.

Despite the oddity, the Muslim located a Jew in Canton. Apparently, there was a synagogue there, and one local tour guide knew about this sacred place for those called "Jews." The Muslim reached the synagogue but found it abandoned. After exploring the area, he discovered an elderly, ill Jewish man nearby. The Muslim asked if he could purchase a Torah scroll from him, and the Jew agreed to sell the synagogue's Torah, already neglected.

Why would a Muslim need a Torah scroll?

This is the fascinating story of Kaifeng's Jewish community during the medieval era. No one knows how or why Jews reached distant Kaifeng, but the synagogue's inscription dates its construction to 1163, some 900 years ago. It's speculated that Persian merchants traveling the Silk Road were among them. Silk, primarily produced in China, was transported westward by merchant caravans. Jewish merchants followed these routes to purchase silk cheaply and resell it, with some settling along the Silk Road's various stations.

The Ming dynasty's Chinese emperor permitted Jews to reside in Kaifeng, even assigning six family names for them to use: Ai, She, Gao, Jin, Li, Gan, and Shi. The Jews integrated into Chinese commerce, enjoying many perks but facing one challenge: floods. The synagogue stood near the Yangtze River, part of the silk route, and floods occasionally inundated the synagogue. Usually, they could prepare in advance due to heavy rains, but one year an unexpected flood damaged all Torah scrolls. Tragically, they had no scribes or even sources to copy from as printed Chumashim didn't exist, leaving Kaifeng's Jews in a bind.

Yet, being prosperous, they could dispatch emissaries to any Chinese city known to have once had Jews. Information was scarce, but ancient rumors guided them, prompting them to send a Muslim emissary, who also respects the Torah's sanctity. Thankfully, he procured a Torah scroll in Canton, providing Kaifeng's Jews a proper Torah again. Perhaps they later copied it, allowing the community to endure and flourish somewhat. Another synagogue inscription lists seventy community families with genealogies from Abraham to their own. Another describes their loyalty to the emperor and their battles in various wars for him.

Europeans first heard of Kaifeng's Jews through a Christian missionary in Beijing. In 1605, he reported meeting a Jew who claimed there's an entire Jewish community in Kaifeng. When he tried discussing Christianity, he realized Kaifeng's Jews knew nothing of it. The missionary wrote to Kaifeng's synagogue leader, stating that the Jewish messiah they await had already come, and he represented him... The synagogue leader replied, according to their belief, the messiah had not yet arrived; they awaited his arrival to redeem Israel at the end of days.

In 1850, a Christian messianic sect led by Hong Xiuquan launched a rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, known as the "Taiping Rebellion." It convulsed vast Chinese regions, with millions perishing—sometimes called "the deadliest war in history," killing 7% of the world's population. For 14 years, imperial troops ravaged cities and villages, suppressing the rebels. During this period, Kaifeng's synagogue was destroyed, causing the Jewish community to disperse. As scattered remnants dwindled, their Jewish knowledge eroded. Today, around five hundred Jews live in Kaifeng; a few dozen still attend synagogue, abstaining from pork—an essential Jewish marker for them—and avoiding seafood, prevalent among the Chinese.