The Jews of China

[ghostexorcist]

I'm not sure how many people on here are interested in history, but I wanted to share the first half of an article that I wrote on the Kaifeng Jews of China:

http://historical-research-society.b...religious.html

There are two main theories as to why this particular group of Jews originally came to China. The first is that they arrived during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) as religious refugees fleeing persecution. The second is that they arrived during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) as merchants. The first half of the article explains the evidence for the Han entry, and then it rips the evidence to shreds on a point by point basis. I also make reference to the Jews' odd Confucian and Daoist-influenced version of Judaism, Alexander the Great, and China's invasion of a (possibly Greek) territory in ancient Central Asia to acquire "heavenly horses."

It' seems like a long article, but please keep in mind that the annotated references start about half way down the webpage.

[Syn7]

I'm not sure how many people on here are interested in history, but I wanted to share the first half of an article that I wrote on the Kaifeng Jews of China:

http://historical-research-society.b...religious.html

There are two main theories as to why this particular group of Jews originally came to China. The first is that they arrived during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) as religious refugees fleeing persecution. The second is that they arrived during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) as merchants. The first half of the article explains the evidence for the Han entry, and then it rips the evidence to shreds on a point by point basis. I also make reference to the Jews' odd Confucian and Daoist-influenced version of Judaism, Alexander the Great, and China's invasion of a (possibly Greek) territory in ancient Central Asia to acquire "heavenly horses."

It' seems like a long article, but please keep in mind that the annotated references start about half way down the webpage.

are they still semetic or have they been completely overrun by han genes at this point???

if they went all over europe thru the northern passages and the gibralter area then it doesnt seem so far fetched that some would have gone south and east as well...

have there been any genetic tests done on any of these people who claim lineage? any hard science here or is it all speculation???

looks interesting, i'll copy it and file it away and put it on my "to read" list...


when will you drop the second half? coz im not even gonna bother starting till i have it all...

[ghostexorcist]

are they still semetic or have they been completely overrun by han genes at this point???

if they went all over europe thru the northern passages and the gibralter area then it doesnt seem so far fetched that some would have gone south and east as well...

have there been any genetic tests done on any of these people who claim lineage? any hard science here or is it all speculation???

looks interesting, i'll copy it and file it away and put it on my "to read" list...


when will you drop the second half? coz im not even gonna bother starting till i have it all...

They look like regular Chinese people now. However, Jesuit records from the Ming Dynasty talk of how the Chinese Jews had longer noses and deeper set eyes than their full Chinese neighbors. Centuries of intermarrying with the Chinese has washed away what might be considered Semitic traits.

The currently accepted theory is that they originated from Persia. This is because their religious documents were written in Judeo-Persian, an offshoot of New Persian which developed on the trade routes of Central Asia in the 8th century. Plus, Jesuits active in the 18th century noted that they were able to communicate in broken Persian. I know of one Israeli Geneticist that was scheduled to do some DNA testing, but the Chinese government was giving him problems.

I actually have the full article written. I only published the first half because the online journal that I originally submitted it to suggested that I cut it in half. I posted it on my neglected history research blog because non-members of the history forum that hosts the journal can't see that section of the website. I will send you the full article when I get a chance to clean it up a little bit. It is currently formatted oddly for the aforementioned forum. It may take a week or so because I'm swamped with school work at the moment. I will most likely expand the second half by a couple of paragraphs before I publish it online early next year.

Here is a scan of some pages from the community's 17th century memorial book of the dead. I'm sure others will find it interesting because it lists both the Hebrew and Chinese names. The weird symbol is simply a water mark from the hosting institution (here in Cincinnati):

http://huc.edu/libraries/exhibits/rb...s/yt00042t.jpg

[ghostexorcist]

Check your messages.

[Taixuquan99]

I'm looking forward to reading it!

On the topic of whether they show genetic markers of being semitic(probably not the proper phrasing), I read an article a number of years back talking about groups that claimed, over the centuries, to be related to the Generals of the Mongol Khans, living in areas far from Mongolia, and it turned out that for the most part, they were exactly that, despite any later interbreeding, they had definite markers.

Doesn't have much to do with anything, but I suspect, in most cases, ethnic groups are less likely to hold to a story that they are different than the local norm where it isn't true.

[Jimbo]

Many years ago, I remember reading an article about scientists who believe there is a Japan-Jewish connection, too. They pointed to the Star of David appearing on some ancient temples, I believe in Kyoto(?). Also, they mentioned a possibility that the Ainu, the original inhabitants of Japan, may have been old enemies of the Jews from before either group entered Japan, for various reasons that were mentioned.

The latter part I don't know about, but I'm open to the possibility that ancient Jews could have traveled as far as Japan and become intermixed into the population over time. I've read that the Ainu themselves have DNA evidence of connections to the Andaman islands/India, Tibet, Siberia, etc. I also heard speculation that the Ainu may have also come from the Middle East/Western Asia. In the past, many scientists assumed the Ainu were Caucasian due to different characteristics, often including wavy hair, facial structure, body hair, body size, and sometimes even green eyes, but them being European has been pretty much discounted. Though a small number of 'pure' Ainu still live on Hokkaido, for the most part, they've become intermixed into the general Japanese population.

I also saw a special on cable about the ancient Americas, where many Cherokee believe themselves descended from Jews, and not ancient people from northeast Asia crossing the ancient land bridge at the Bering Strait, and they presented evidence to back up their beliefs. I believe the history of the world is far different, and had far more travel/exchange/intermixing/settling than what is generally taught.

Anyway, sorry for drifting so far off the subject, and thanks for the article!