The Chinese Jews

When people talk about “Chinese Jews,” they usually mean the Jews of Kaifeng, a city in Henan province that served as the capital of the Northern Song dynasty. Their ancestors were most likely merchants from Persia, possibly by way of India, who reached China by sea or along the Silk Road and settled by the Yellow River [1][2][3].

By 1163, the community was established enough to build a synagogue in the heart of the city [2]. A stele erected in 1489 records the date [3]. The synagogue complex followed the style of Chinese temples, but the community kept the Sabbath, circumcised its sons, and observed the dietary laws [1][3]. The removal of sinews from meat gave them their local name, Tiaojinjiao, “the religion that plucks out the sinew” [4][5].

What makes Kaifeng unusual in Jewish history is what the community did not face. China had no native tradition of anti-Jewish persecution [2]. The real threat came from the river. Floods damaged the synagogue again and again, and each time it was rebuilt and its Torah scrolls painstakingly recopied [3]. In 1642, during a siege, the dikes were deliberately breached. The flood killed at least 100,000 people and swept away the synagogue, which the community rebuilt in 1663 [3].

At its height in the 16th century, the community numbered perhaps 5,000 people [6]. Over time, families married local spouses, and some sons studied for the imperial examinations [2][3]. Contact with the wider Jewish world faded by the late 17th century [2]. The last rabbi died in the early 19th century, and floods in 1841 and 1860 left the synagogue in ruins [3][4][5]. It was never rebuilt [7].

Memory survived. Some families kept small customs, such as not eating pork, long after formal practice had disappeared [7][9]. Today, about 1,000 people in Kaifeng claim Jewish heritage, and only some 100 to 200 have taken part in Jewish activities [6][9].

Their situation remains fragile. Judaism is not among China’s five officially recognized religions [9]. Reports since 2016 describe the closure of Jewish organizations, limits on holiday gatherings, and the removal of signs marking Jewish sites [9][10]. About 20 descendants had settled in Israel by 2016 with the help of Shavei Israel, undergoing conversion there [8]. The group opened a center in Kaifeng in 2013, which was later closed [7][8].

Beyond Kaifeng, Jewish life in China today consists mainly of expatriates, diplomats, and students in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong [2]. Shanghai also holds a special place in modern Jewish memory. During World War II, it sheltered an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 Jewish refugees at a time when most countries had closed their doors [2][11][12]. The former Ohel Moshe Synagogue is now the site of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum [11].

The Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Kaifeng Jews

UNESCO describes living heritage through five domains [13]. The Kaifeng case is unusual because much of this heritage now survives through family memory, surviving manuscripts, and written accounts rather than through continuous community practice.

Oral Traditions and Expressions

Kaifeng Jews recorded their history and beliefs on stone stelae, dated 1489, 1512, 1663, and 1679 [15]. These texts express Jewish thought in Chinese terms, using Tian, or Heaven, for God and Dao, the Way, for the Torah and the commandments [3][14]. After formal practice declined, parents still told their children about their Jewish roots [9].

Performing Arts

The liturgy is the best-documented performed tradition. Jesuit visitors described daily prayers, and the community read the Torah in the synagogue [5][15]. The sound of its chants and any music remain poorly documented, so this domain needs dedicated research.

Social Practices, Rituals, and Festive Events

The community prayed three times a day and observed the Sabbath and the holidays [3]. Its synagogue faced west, toward Jerusalem [15]. At Passover, families baked unleavened cakes and marked their doorposts in red [1]. In the 2010s, an elderly descendant still remembered his parents putting blood on the doorpost, though he did not know why [17]. Chinese reverence for ancestors also shaped community life and strengthened the link between generations [3]. Seven surnames, carried by eight clans, still mark Kaifeng Jewish descent [3].

Knowledge Concerning Nature and the Universe

This domain is the least documented. The clearest example is practical knowledge tied to food, especially the preparation of meat under dietary law, which gave the community its Chinese name [4][5]. The Kaifeng texts also present the natural world and the Torah as two expressions of the Way of Heaven [3].

Traditional Craftsmanship

Scribal work stands at the center of this heritage. Because replacement scrolls could no longer be obtained from abroad, the community copied its Torah scrolls from what survived the floods [14]. A Torah scroll now in the British Library shows Hebrew letters that resemble Chinese characters [18]. A family register from about 1660, kept at Hebrew Union College, was written with two pens, one for Chinese calligraphy and one for Hebrew [1].

Transmission Today

For most descendants, avoiding pork is the main custom still observed [18]. Foreign visitors and teachers helped revive interest from the 1980s, and more than 50 descendants gathered for a Passover seder at the Shavei Israel center in the 2010s [3][17]. Manuscripts and objects are preserved far from Kaifeng, at the British Library, Hebrew Union College, and the Royal Ontario Museum [1][18]. In Israel, the conversion of Shlomo Jin’s family in 2005 marked the first return of a Kaifeng family, and the descendants who followed carry this memory into Israeli life [21].