The Savannah morning news., 1900-11-04
CHINESE JEWS.
IN THE HEART or CHINA ron MORE
THAN 1900 YEARS.

That May Never he solved-Are
They Descendants of Ahasuesusf
Their strange Religious Rites
spIendor OF the Temple. Now In
Ruins, such OF a. as Has Not been
sold MT by nit 90 sustain the
starving Survivors of the Race.
Jewish Facial Characteristics san
Apparent.
Washington. Nov. Ain the heart Of
China. -oJ males from Shanghai. on the
banks Of the Hoang-ho 81 yellow river.
live seven families Of Chinese Jews-the
sole remnant OF seventy clans. 300
strong. who came into the Celestial King
dom az the time Of Ning-te II, who reign
ca about 3l9 A. u.
These seven families represent what az
one time was power IN CHINA CITY
OF Jews ~ wealthy and esteemed that
an emperor built a magnificent synagogue
for them and made one OF them che treas
uror of a great province. another gen
eral in the imperial army and honored
them IN various other ways. Then IN the
golden age OF Judaism IN China. these
Chinese Jews prospcred 60 - great an eN-
tent that shey grew careless IN their Nof-
shin and neclected the God OF their faith
ers. To-Day. their synagogue II mass
OF ruins most Of u sold TO furnish f0od
Tor che seven surviving families and alb
joct poverty rcigns among them. TheT
sacred books have been sold. their reii-
eious rites forgotten. their language has
become a mer, memory and their origin
one OF the mysteries Of tho mysterious
orient.
The existence OF Chinese Jews has long
been a mystery. for although their pres
ence and existence have been established
beyond doubt yet - much Of their history
Is speculative. that tho most profound
sch0lars and students o. Jewish ana on
entail history have been ot variance a. 10
their origin. Tho survivors ana those
seen and spoken 10 during tho last 20
wears on bore tho unmistakable racial
imprint Of tho Jew. There could be 10
doubt on that score. Not only that but
they observed most Of the customs 0f their
ancestors and worshipped In the orthodox
manner. The fact Of their Hehraic origin
ana descent has not been lu dispute. nut
the why and tho wherefore Of their pres
ere in China has caused considerable
controversy among those Interested IN
such matters
some have held that they were the LOST
tribes OF Israel. but this g. Wild specula
tion. especially a. China was referred 10
only once in the Blb.e. when Isaiah 90 ~
SAYS. "Beho.d-aUd these from tho land
Of sluim tChina) " At the time OF Isaiah,
40 p. g., Tglath Pileser III, contem
porary OF Jeroboam H. ruled Egypt and
the Jews wcro even then renowned trad
ere. whose voyage extended into the far
thest east. lf the Chinese Jews had been
Inc lost tribes Chinese history would ~
al probability have referred 20 them and
their own history would have done like
wise Neither g. the case.
THtTear history eaerfs that the Jews
came to Chinl during the reign OF Ming
te H. Of the Han or Tsin dynasty, about
30 The history OF the Jews themselves
declares that they came into China 22t
A. D.. from Thccn-Chuh tCabuD, Their
leaders were the heads OF the Yen. IL.
Gne I<aou. Chaou. Kin chow. sinh.
Hwaug. Nee and Tso families. They
brought With thCm tribute Of 81 yang
pu"-cl0th from the western ocean. This
might serve as n clue as TO their origin.
but Il Is doubtful az 20 which ocean is
meant II may be the Indian ocean. the
Red sea the Mediterranean or even one
Of the inland seas 81 Asia.
a Great Immigration.
In tho days Of Mine-te IT, China was
the most highly civilized nation 90 tho
world. and all the world traded with her.
Half a dozen caravan roads led across
Asia 20 the marts % China and tia Jews,
following their occupation OF Traders.
Travelled over them repeatedly II took
go DAYS 20 travel from Syria to China II
ls probable that the Jewish traders ind
ng the country fertile ond the people
friendly. advised their brethren 10 emil
crate. So a huge caravan was made up
aud seventy clans OF families started Tor
their now home 10 China. They left
Yew-tao ,Judcaj In "a 4. D.. and Travelled
by easy Stages across Asia. with them
went rabbits ana learned men. who carried
holy books ana the sayings d the pr0ph-
els. Finally. after year OF wandering.
the caravan arrived at Pcen on the
Hoang- no. the Kai-fung-fu Of to-day cit
uated 20 the south Of Pekin. No sooner
had the caravan arrived. than the Chi
nese bestowed name upon thcm--the
followers Of the religion which enjolns
the extraction 81 tho sincw T iau-kiu-
klan This referred to the Hebrew cus-
tom o. extracting the sinew or nerve OF
flesh used Tor fool.
For many years nearly s0o. tho settle
mcnt az Kal-fung-fu prospered and grad
uallv Jewish traders penetrated 20 an
parts ~ the empire They established an
important trading station IN Nngpo.
which they used as a port Of entry. So
well did they do that IN the year SO un-
other influx OF Jews took place and the
power ard influence q the settlement in
creased greatly. Chinese history FIRST
mentions The Jews IN the eleventh centu-
~ when the annals Of one Of the dynas-
ties refers 90 them as having served IN the
imperial army with distinction and brav-
cry The next mention is found on . tab
lcf erected in their temple. discovered by
"a Jesuit In H. This tablet declares that
the religion was founded by A-woo-lo-han
abraham. who handed down the pre-
cepts to Mayshe (Aioses). The synagogue
or temple was built in the frst year OF
Laughing OF tho Sung dynasty in the
twentieth year Of sixfy-nfih cycle nisD.
Lee-ching and Woo-sze-ta, two rabbis.
superintended the construction OF the
tempfe while Yen-too-la furnished the
funds The structure burned down and
was rebuilt IN 1879 on Thoc-she-tsse
street on the southeast side.
spIendor of the Jewish Temple.
This temple WIS seen IN the seventeenth
century By one o. the Jesuit fathers ana
according 10 hts description, was a SUI
perb AFFAIR. This authority asserted that
the temple was 80 feet Ions and 10 wide.