Xin Xu

A good enough book, though the content is not as organized as it first seems and is often repetitive (sometimes concerningly so--what editor missed the repeated 12-line block quote on pages 41 and 87?). This is a history of the Jews in Kaifeng, primarily distilled from other sources. I'm not sure why people find it surprising that Jews, who were involved in merchant and lending trades, would be in Asia Major. I'm never sure if that's about oblique racism/antisemitism, Eurocentrism, US myopia about countries existing more than 300 years ago, or some other factor that stifles even logical speculation about the movement of people in the world. One needn't have been a lost tribe to be told to get out of country X and disperse. That Jews have been pretty good at this is demonstrated by the ongoing existence of Jewish communities.

The book could have earned another star by having a map showing Kaifeng in relation to the silk road, or a schematic of the synagogue, or photos of the stelae, but there are no illustrations. Here's a map, and here's a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaifeng_Jews">a more linear and cricial account (with photos).

I can't tell which part of the book is the author's original contribution to the literature. He usually reports rather than interprets. I found one interpretation on page 101 rather odd: "Even today, the Jewish descendants in Kaifeng still do not eat pork. It is interesting to compare the attitude toward dietary laws in Reform Judaism. The Kaifeng Jewish descendants seem more authentic than Reform Jews in this respect." Is the author suggesting that not eating pork is a more authentic expression of Judaism than is, say, adhering to a Jewish moral code? Or does "seem" suggest that he doesn't know whether Reform Jews eat pork? I'm not sure what "authentic" means, unless it is "historically similar." However, this is really the only jarring note in an otherwise interesting summary that can be read quickly because of its many redundancies.
Posted by Shoshana at 2:36 PM
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This slim book tells the story of the Jewish people of China, how they got to Kaifeng and established themselves. It builds upon the legends inscribed on stele, with the intention of making them more real and accessible to modern English-language readers. Not only are there stories of the early period of the Chinese Jewish people, but there are also stories of more modern times, including examples from the 20th century.

The fact that there were Jewish immigrants to China is not well known, but this book is a nice introduction to them and the blending of their traditions with the Chinese culture. The illustrations are a good visual supplement to the legends - they, too, blend a traditional Chinese art style with Western illustration style.

Despite the interesting subject matter, I was disappointed with the book. I felt that there were too many liberties taken with the legends and they were embellished too much by the writers. I wish they had been presented as they are on the stele, though in translation, of course, so that I could make my own judgments. However, I am not necessarily the target audience, and this book is more suited to casual readers than academics studying folklore.… (mehr)