Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-11-01
\ SINGULAR DISCOVERY.
AcoIony Of Jews in the Heart
I " a." of China. f' l7ii9o '''

katfung-DestructiO OF the Syna-
gOgue Distressed Condition OF the
PeOpIe-DecGy ana Tn reatened Ex-
tinctiOn' THGf rswrU rasecHaT 7gty
From the Correspondence of the New York Tines
r.t,.r.5...sa PEKIN, CHINA, June, 1866.
The city oil Kai-fung-fee, the capital of
Honan, is famous as an ancient capital OF
the Empire, and the scene OF stirring events
in the history OF China. To the Christian
world, however, it possesses deeper in
terest as the residence of a Jewish colony.
They were discovered by the celebrated
Father Ricci; and early in the seventeenth
century, full inquiries concerning their
usages and manuscripts were made by
Jesuit missionaries, who resided in that
city. In 1850 deputation OF native Chris
tians was sent among them by the Bishop
of Victoria and the late Dr. bIedhurst.
Two OF the Jews were induced to go to
Shanghai, and some of their Hebrew MSS
obtained; but up to the date of my jour
ney, for more than century and half.
they had not, so far as we are informed,
been visited by any European. 1t became,
therefore, matter of interest tn ascertain
their present condition and, as | remarked
in my letter, this was the chief cOnsidera-
ton which induced. me to make Kai-fuug-
fee point in the course, of my iDlaud
travels. What others may have published
| shall not repeat, but concisely as possible
lay before you review of my own obser-
vatiOns. a.. tU al rie ea 'Lrlg avid
Arriving in this city on the 18th of Feb
ruary, | Inquired for the Jewish Syna-
gogue, but get ing satisfactory answer,
| wentstor information TO a Mobammedan
mosque, of which there are no fewer than
six. was well received by the Mutt; and
the advent Of a stranger from the West
who was believed to be q wOrshiper of the
+" true Lord" soon attracted large con-
course of the faithful. At the request of
the Mutt, holding New Testament in my
hand, addressed them in relation to tue
contents of the Holy Book of Jesus, whose
name he pronounced with great respect as
that of the most ilustriOuS Of their proph-
cts, MOhammet of course excepted.
The Jews he denounced as Kdfrs, and
evinred no very poignant sorrow when he
Informed me that their synagogue had
come TO desolatiOn. 1T was" he assured
me, "utterly demolished, and the people
who had wGrshiped there scattered
abroad" 'sThen," said |, "Iwill 90 and
see the spot on which it stood :" and d-
recting the bearers of my sedan to proceed
to tile place indicated by the Mutt, pass
ed through streets crowded with curious
spectators until came to an open square,
in the center of which there stood a solitary
stone On one side was an inscrip-
ton commemorating the erection of the
synagoguein the reign of the Sung dynasty,
4. ID. llG3 land referring the first arrival of
the Jews in China to the dynasty of Hon,
B. c. 200-A. ID. 200. '' .'
On the other side was record of its re-
building in the dynasty of Ming, about
| 300 years ago, but in addition to these in
scriptions it bore an unwritten record of
decay and ruin; it was inscribed With
Ichd6od, "The glory is departed" ay ...
Standing on the pedestal, and resting
my right hand on the head of that stone
which was to be silent witness of the
truths Twas about to utter, | explained to
the congregated multitude my reasons for
talking pleasure in the stones of Israel,
and favOring the dust thereof" | then in.
quired ii there were any, Of the Jews
among my hearers. II am one" responded
| young man, whose face corroborated his
| assertion, and then another and another
stepped forward, until | saw before me
representatives Of six of the seven fami-
lies into which the colony is now divided.
There, on this melancholy spot, where
the very foundations of the synagogue had
been torn from the ground, and there no
longer remained one stone upon another.
they confessed to me with shame and grief
that their "holy and beautiful house, had
beenIdemOlished by their own hands. 1t
had long been ina ruinous condition
they had 10 money to repair the breaches
of the sanctuary. They had lost all
knowledge of the sacred tongue. the ettadi-
tions of the fathers We're no lor ger handed
down, and their ritual worship had ceased
to be observed. In this state of things
they had yielded to the pressure of ncces-
sity and disposed of the timbers and stones
of that venerable edifice to obtain relief
for their bodily wants. ....-.,.
In the evening some of them came to my
lodgings, bringing for my inspection a roll
OF the law; and the.neXt day, the Christian
Sabbath, they repeated their visit. listening
attentively Co all had to say concerning
the relations OF, the Law of Moses. to the
Gospel of Christ. They were very Ignorant
but answered, as far as they were able, my
inquiries In regard to their past history and
present state. Two of them appeared in
official costume, one wearing a gilt and the
other crystal ball on the top of his cap !;
but far from sustaining the general charac-
ter of their people tor thrift, they number
among them none that are rich, and few
who are not pinched by poverty. Some,
indeed, true to their hereditary instincts, are
employe In small way in banking estab-
lishments (the first man saw was money
changer), others keep fruit stores and cake
shops, drive a business in old clothes, or
pursue various handicrafts,, while a few
find employment in militaryservice. I
The prevalence of rebellion in the Gen.
tral Provinces for the last thirteen .years
has told sadly on the prosperity of Kai-
fung-tee; and the Jews have not unlikely,
owing to the nature of their occupations,
been the greatest sufferers. Their number,
they estimate though not very exactly, at
from two to four hnndred.!, Tfeylare un-
able to trace their tribal pedigree, keep no
register, and never on any occasion, as
semble together as one congregation. 'Hl'
Until recently they had a common center
Ia thiS.venerated synagogue, though their
liturgical service had long been discontin7
iued, Now, however, the congregation
seems to be following thefate Of their build
ling. No bond, of uhion remains. aud they
,are in danger of being speedily absorbed
by Mohammedanism or heathenism, One
of them, to my knowledge, has become q
priest of Buddha, taking, not very consist
emily for his sacrodotal name, the characters
Pen TAM which signify, zone who is .roOtedl
and grounded in the Truth" The large
tablet thatOnce adorned the entrance of the
synagogue, bearing on 1t thename of Israel,
has been appropriated by Mohammedan
mosque, and SOME efforts have been made
to draw the people over to the faith of Mo-
.hammet, from which their practices differso
little that their heathen neighbors have
never been able to distinguish them from
Moslems.~ iNe9i sSFGtfi3snuf iH9yGIq
One of my, visitors was a son, of the last Of
their raobis, who, some thirty or forty
faI s,,k 10 q