The author skilfully condenses centuries of historical information about four main groups of Jewish immigrants to China into this succinct, but comprehensive, chronicle. The Kaifeng Jews, who now look no different from their Chinese neighbours due to thousands of years of intermarriage and assimilation; the Baghdadi Jews, who came to Shanghai after the First Opium War and became fabulously wealthy through opium trade and real estate development; the Russian Jews, who left the Pale of Settlement for a better life in Harbin and prospered by supplying vast natural resources from Northeast China to Europe; and last but not least, the tens of thousands of German and Austrians Jews who escaped Nazi-occupied Europe and found refuge in Shanghai.

Jews in China: A History of Struggle

History

Zane, Nicholas

World

N House Publishing

The coterie of Jewish merchants who, in the 9th Century, collectively undertook the challenge of travelling the Silk Road to China, are purported to be descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. 
The community ensconced themselves in Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, located on the southern bank of the Yellow River. 
The Kaifeng Jews developed a unique Sino-Judaic culture that would evolve increasingly Chinese due to the effects of intermarriage and geopolitical factors. Success in the Imperial Examinations gave impetus to a 'brain-drain,' as the most adept members of this community would be delegated to administrate other provinces or Beijing. 
A fortuitous encounter between Father Matteo Ricci and the Kaifeng Jews catapulted the community onto the global stage, eliciting attention from the likes of Immanuel Kant and Oliver Cromwell. 
This edition offers a comprehensive timeline on the history of the Kaifeng Jews and their interactions with the Muslims, Mongolians, Mandarins, and Missionaries. Should the reader have any unanswered questions about the history of the Kaifeng Jews, they can expect them to be answered in this book.

Chinese Jews: The Tribe That Israel Never Truly Lost

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