The Theology of the Chinese Jews, 1000–1850

Table of Contents

• Cover 1
• Contents 8
• Prologue 10
• Acknowledgements 12
• 1 Introduction: The Four Questions 14
• Who Are the Chinese Jews? 14
• Are the Chinese Jews Jewish? 18
• What Are the Sources for the Theology of the Chinese Jews? 29
• Is This Theology Relevant Today? 34
• 2 From Whence They Came to Where They Went 38
• The Extent of the Diaspora 38
• Jewish Life under Christianity and Islam: Tenth to Twelfth Centuries 43
• The Sea Route to China and the Settlement in Kaifeng 46
• 3 Life in China: Tenth to Nineteenth Centuries 50
• Religion 50
• Education 61
• Social Structure 63
• Government 64
• Economy 65
• Culture 66
• 4 Brief History of Buddhism and the Abrahamic Traditions in China 68
• The Buddhist Experience in China 69
• Christianity to the Mid-Nineteenth Century 71
• Christianity in China after the de Facto Demise of Judaism 75
• Islam 79
• Judaism 82
• 5 The Sinification of Judaism 92
• Veneration of Ancestors: Family, Tribal, Religious, and Cultural 92
• Education and Its Relationship to Judaism 98
• The Kaifeng Jews and Their Neighbours 100
• Chinese Judaism 103
• 6 A Speculative Theology of the Chinese Jews 108
• The Names of God: Hebrew 109
• The Kaifeng Synagogue’s Stelae and Plaques 111
• The Names of God: Chinese 113
• The Nature of Creation 119
• Monotheism from a Chinese Perspective 123
• A Speculative Chinese-Jewish Theology 126
• Assimilation and Theology 137
• Historical and Cultural Context 142
• Epilogue 144
• Postscript: What Western Jews Can Learn from the Kaifeng Jews 150
• Appendix: Chinese Logographs for Terms and Translations in Chapter 6 158
• Notes 160
• References 166