Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1899-05-26
CHINESE JEWS.
4 Splendid Tabernacle in the F1owery
Kingdom.

SDleuu1Q laDernaCle III the lOWcTy
Kingdom.
The Biblical prophecy that the Jews
should be scattered abroad over the
face of the earth is certainly a true
one, for there is no country in the world
which does not contain its portion Of
these thrifty people. Even in China
they have long been known. Early in
the seventeenth century, and shortly
after the Italian missionaries had come
to Peking, one of them, Matthew Rlcci,
received a morning call. His visitor
wore the gorgeous Chinese dress, in
cluding the queue, but the figure and
face were not Mongolian, and the smil-
ing countenance was not in keeping
with the dignified solemnity of a Chi
nGman. The gentlGman's name was
Ngai, and he had heard of the arrival
of some foreigners who worshiped one
Lord Of heaven and earth, and yet who
were not Mohammedans; he belonged
to the same religion, he explained, and
had called to make their acquaintance.
Now, Master Ngai made it clear that
he was an Israelite, native of Kae-
Fung-Foo, the capital of Honan. He
had come to Peking to pass an eXamina-
ton for mandarin degree, and had
been led by curiosity and brotherly
feeling to call at the mission house.
In his native city, he said, there were
ten or twelve families of IsrsMlites, and
a synagogue, which they h,:T recently
restored at the expense Uf 10000
crowns, and they had q roll Of the law
400 or 500 years old. The missionarys
letetrs described this synagogue. 1t
occupied space between 300 and 400
feet in length by about 100 feet in
breadth, and was divided into four
courts. 1t had borrowed some decora-
tive splendor from China. The in
scription in Hebrew, Hear, o Israel;
the Lord our God is one Lord, blessed
be the name Of the glory of His king
dom for ever and ever" and the Ten
Commandments We're emblaZoned in
gold. Silken curtains inclosed the
Bethel which enshrined the sacred
books, and which only the rabbi might
enter during the time of prayer. Ev-
cry detail of this place, with its in
cense, its furniture and all its types of
good things yet to come, is interesting.
There, in the last century. the children
of Israel at Kae- -Fung-Foo worshiped
the God Of their fathers with the rites
that pointed to the Messiah, of whose
advent as far as 1T can be ascertained,
they never heard until the arrival of
the Italian missionaries.
Learned men have entered into dis
cusslon as to whether these people
We're Jews or Israelites, whether they
come to China from the Assyrian cap
uvity or the Roman dispersion. They
themselves say that their forefathers
came from the West and it is prob
able that the settlers arrived by W>,e of
hhorassan ard Samarcand. They
must have been numerous In the ninth
century, for two Mohammedan trav-
elers of that period describe & rebel
named Bae-Choo, taking Canton by
storm in A. ID. S77 and slaughtering
10000 Jews, Mohammedans, Chris
uans and Parsees. More than one Jew
of kae-Fung-F is known to have
gained the right to wear the little,
round button on the top of his cap SO
dear to the ambition of a Chinaman
The TAPPING rebellion dispersed the
settlement, and the remnant who re-
main faithful to the memory of old
traditions are chiefly poor and dis
tressed.