Kaifeng Jews, a small Jewish community in the 14 - 45 mile across Kaifeng area in Henan province of China,
who had largely assimilated into Chinese society due to centuries of cultural suppression and intermarriage, while preserving some Jewish t…
Kaifeng Jews, a small Jewish community in the 14 - 45 mile across Kaifeng area in Henan province of China,
who had largely assimilated into Chinese society due to centuries of cultural suppression and intermarriage, while preserving some Jewish traditions and customs. Their origin and time of arrival in Kaifeng are a matter of debate among experts
BUT may have been 60 AD or 600 AD = the 7th century, during the Tang dynasty, , BUT did not take root if it happened at all
some modern Kaifeng claimed to have kept some Jewish practices
but they assert times before they are known to have begun else where.
Locally, the religion was known as Jingjiao/Ching-chiao (??) the “Luminous Religion”. , The Church of the East or Nestorian Church
1368–98 is the earliest reliable date for Jewish arrival in Kaifeng is the Hung Wu Period of the Ming Dynasty.
1421 , a synagogue was initially built rather than rebuilt or restored as was assumed later on
1489, 1512, & 1663 AD stone stelae called The Kaifeng Stone Inscriptions had been made left by the Kaifeng Jews
their is self publishing author & teacher of Hebrew history and Chinese religion named Tiberiu Weisz, who has a theory that only relied on the stones
1500's Jesuit missionaries reintroduced Christ, & their assertions may have caused
the publication of James Finn's
1840 "The Jews in China
1874 " The Orphan Colony of Jews in China "
until 1851 the community had no Torah scrolls when they suddenly appeared to be sold to eager Western collectors.
a statement in Song History as proof that a large population of Jewish expatriates, having followed monk Ni-wei-ni all the way from India, went to Kaifeng on 20 February 998
BUT a Buddhist book composed by a monk in the Song Dynasty, =
"In 998, the Central Indian monk Ni-wei-ni (?????) and others came to China to meet Emperor Song Zhenzong with Buddhist relics, scriptures, banyan leafs and several banyan seeds.
The description in the ..