Abstract
A thousand years ago, Jewish merchants from Persia were invited from a Chinese seaport synagogue community to the then capital of Kaifeng. Within a century, they built a synagogue that eventually became one of largest in the world. The Kaifeng synagogue community continued until external circumstances led to its demise in the mid-eighteenth century. As Jews in Europe, they assimilated linguistically, culturally and physically, and achieved government positions out of proportion to their numbers. When they left Basra, the most prominent Jewish theologian was Saadia Gaon. Over the centuries, their theology was influenced by Chinese philosophy, as Maimonides was influenced by Greek philosophy via Arab learning. The result was a theology close to Saadia’s, compatible with Maimonides, yet in harmony with Chinese literati philosophy, but one that differed from later European Jewish theology. This was due to their unique circumstances, for in China, the Jews encountered no persecution whatsoever.
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Notes
- 1.
All of this material, both in Chinese and English translation (retranslated by the author), will be found in White (1966).
- 2.
For a history of the Kaifeng Jews, see Leslie (1972).
- 3.
For a comprehensive and analytical background to Chinese religion, see Paper (1995).
- 4.
All translations from the Chinese are the author’s own.
- 5.
For a fuller discussion of the mystic experience, see Paper (2004).
- 6.
This relationship is analyzed in Paper (2005): 121–25.
- 7.
A more complete exposition of the above as well as corollary material and discussion will be found in Paper (2012).
References
Leslie, Donald Daniel. 1972. The survival of the Chinese Jews: The Jewish community of Kaifeng. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Paper, Jordan. 1995. The spirits are drunk: Comparative approaches to Chinese religion. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Paper, Jordan. 2004. The mystic experience: A descriptive and comparative analysis. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Paper, Jordan. 2005. The deities are many: A polytheistic theology. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Paper, Jordan. 2012. The theology of the Chinese Jews 1000–1850. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Rosenblatt, Samuel. 1948. Saadia Gaon, the book of beliefs and opinions. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Tillich, Paul. 1964. Theology of culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
White, William Charles. 1966. Chinese Jews, 2nd ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
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Paper, J. (2013). The Theology of the Chinese Jews: An Understanding of God That Is Simultaneously Jewish, “Confucian” and Daoist. In: Diller, J., Kasher, A. (eds) Models of God and Alternative Ultimate Realities. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5219-1_41
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