Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1899-06-07
CHINESE JEWS.
a spie1did Tabernacle in the Flower,
Kingdom,

hingdom.
The Biblical prophecy that the Jews
sSould 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
aIter the Italian missionaries had come
to Peking, one OF them, Matthew Rlccl
received morning call His visitor
wore the gorgeous Chinese dress, in
Guiding the queue, bur the figure and
FACE were not Mongollan, and the smil
ing counlenance was not In keeping
with the dignitied solemnity of Chit
naman. The gentlemans 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 lsraelite, native of Kae.
tung- Foo, the capital of Honan. He
aad come TO Pelling 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 Israelltes, and
. synagogue, which they had recently
restored at the expense of 10000
crowns, and they had Il roll of the law
400 or 500 years old. The missionary's
letetrs described this synagogue. II
occupied a space between 300 and 400
feet in length by about 100 feet in
breadth, and was divided into four
courts. 1t had borrowed some deeora.
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
"Bethef' which enshrined the sacred
books, and which only the rabbi might
enter during the time of prayer. Ev.
cry detail of this place, with It's 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
cussion as to whether these people
were Jews or Israelites, whether they
come to China from the Assyrian cap
| tlyity or the Roman dispersion. They
themselves say that their forefathers
came from the West, and it is prob
able that the settlers arrived by way of
khorassan and Samarcand. They
must have been numerous in the ninth
century. for two Mohammedan trav-
elers of that period describe a rebel.
named Bae-Choo taking Canton by
storm in A. ID. S17 and slaughtering
10000 Jews, Mohammedans, Chris
tians and Parsees. More than one lew
of Kae Flung Foo 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 Ghinaman.
| 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.