Tiberiu Weisz a scholar of China for 40 years, author of two books and numerous articles about cross cultural links between Judaism and China. His research and translation of the Kaifeng Stone Inscriptions led him to the discovery of an Israelite community in ancient Chinese Literature. "His fluency in Chinese and Hebrew... provides him a unique approach..." (www.myjewishbooks.com.)
A History of the Kaifeng Israelites
Encounters with Israelites in Chinese Literature
by Tiberiu Weisz
A History of the Kaifeng Israelites
Encounters with Israelites in Chinese Literature
by Tiberiu Weisz
Published Nov 28, 2017
278 Pages
Genre: HISTORY / Asia / China
Book Details
Israelites in Chinese Literature
Who were the Chinese Jews?
When did they settle China?
How did they become Han Chinese? (Why China today still considers them Han Chinese and not a minority?)
These are just some of the questions that this book answers in-depth. Based on original Chinese primary sources, the author "lays out his theory with meticulous readings of classical Chinese texts in the light of Jewish culture, displaying the most awesome erudition and deep understanding of Chinese culture as he does so." (Kyoto Journal #92, 2019)
Book Excerpt
(pg. 60) ... Israelites were mentioned in the Sui Dynasty (386 -618 CE) as officials under their Chinese names.
In the following case, an imperial edict directed a scholar of the ancient religion (Biblical Israelites) to erect a stone tablet in the memory of those who died in the flooding:
“The Prefecture was ordered to assist Nan Liuxi, given name Deyi (David?), a former county minister in the Wei Dynasty, well versed in ya (songs recited from the Book of Poetry) and broadly learned in ancient religion (Israelite), to erect a stone tablet for the more than one hundred disciples whose lives were cut short and died young [in the floods]. Therefore, this place of burial was called 'live grave.'"
[Original Chinese text:
縣令濟南劉熹，字德怡，魏時宰縣，雅好博古，教學立碑，載生徒百有餘人，不終業而夭者，因葬其地，號曰「生墳」]
The mention of a scholar of ancient religion was intriguing. From a Western point of view, this text seemed quite straightforward, but if framed in a Chinese cultural setting, it invoked the complex ritual of “knowing the roots” of court ceremonies. Nan Liuxi was a former high-ranking official, a Confucian scholar, and a teacher of gujiao (Israelite religion) whose disciples perished in the flooding. The emperor ordered the prefecture to immortalize the place with a tablet. Nothing unusual, except the requirement that the person be well versed in both the songs of ya (in the Book of Poetry) and the customary mourning rites of gujiao. He was to perform this ceremony combining the proper Chinese etiquette with the customary mourning rites of the deceased... [israelite] ancestors