The Chinese and Jews have a common bond—Sinophobia and Anti-Semitism. Archaeological evidence suggests that Jews were in China as early as the 8th century having arrived from Persia along the Silk Road. In China, Jews found a home without Anti-Semitism, which suggests that Anti-Semitism only exists in Christian and Muslim dominated countries.
In Shanghai, there is the Jewish Refugees Museum located in the former Ohel Moishe Synagogue, which offers a history of refugees who were sheltered in the city during World War II.
There is also a graduate program at Nanjing University, the China/Judaic Studies Association, which furthers the study of Judaism in China at the Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies. The chair for this graduate program, Professor Xu Xin, is the leading Judaic Scholar in China.
Professor Xu said, “Not to understand the contribution of the Jews to world history is not to understand the world…not to understand another people is a failed opportunity to counteract hatred and bigotry.”
The Chinese government now recognizes Jews as an official Chinese ethnic group. Source: Los Angeles Chinese Learning Center
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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