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Globalization, translation and transmission : Sino-Judaic cultural identity in Kaifeng, China / Moshe Y. Bernstein.
LIBRA DS135.C5 B48 2016
Available from offsite location
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Bernstein, Moshe Yehuda, 1952- author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Jews--China--Kaifeng Xian--Identity--History.
- Jews.
- Identity (Philosophical concept).
- History.
- Kaifeng Xian (China)--Ethnic relations--History.
- Kaifeng Xian (China).
- Ethnic relations.
- Jews--Identity.
- China--Kaifeng Xian.
- Genre:
- History.
- Physical Description:
- 253 pages ; 23 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Bern, Switzerland : Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers, [2016]
- Summary:
- "Around the tenth century Jewish merchants from Central Asia arrived in Kaifeng. Welcomed by the Emperor, they integrated into China's economy, society and culture. They intermarried with their hosts, following patrilocal custom with Chinese wives adopting their husbands' Jewish traditions. In 1163 they built a synagogue, where the group, numbering 5,000 at its apex in the sixteenth century, continued to conduct Jewish rituals for seven centuries. Despite the loss of this building in 1849 by flooding, the families and clans of the Jewish descent continued to recall their ancestral identity and preserved a few basic customs. In 1978 with the "opening-up" of China, foreign visitors to Kaifeng generated both a renewed interest in the group and a communal revival of its Jewish identification. This cultural revival has created both opportunities and risks, due largely to an ambivalent Chinese policy denying ethnic status to the Kaifeng Jews while allowing them limited cultural expression. This book explores how a small minority was able to transmit its blend of Sino-Judaic culture over the centuries and how their descendants are striving to revitalise that cultural heritage today"-- Provided by publisher.
- Contents:
- Part 1 The Yicileye: translation and transmission of Sino-Judaic heritage (1000-1850 CE)
- Chapter 1 A historiography of perception, representation and recognition of the Chinese Jews 53
- Lost in translations: the perspective of the Han Chinese 56
- Neighbours and rivals: the ambiguous link with the Bui 60
- The missionary encounters 64
- A case of mistaken identities 67
- Chapter 2 The epigraphic account: translations, confluences and transmissions 75
- Confluences of beliefs, values and practices 82
- The primacy of scholarship 84
- A speculative theology of the Chinese Jews 86
- An unanswered plea 91
- Chapter 3 Authenticity claims and authentication processes: the constructs of non-recognition 97
- Unauthenticated authenticity: The Black Hebrews 99
- Authenticity claims of the Kaifeng Jews 101
- The State of Israel's Law of Return 105
- Matrilineal descent and conversion: pathways to Jewish identity 108
- The "Who Is a Jew?" controversy 110
- The historicity of the matrilineal principle 114
- China's 1954 ethnotaxonomic Classification Project 121
- Official CPC policy on the status of Kaifeng Jews 125
- Part 2 Globalization and retranslation: the modern emergence of the Kaifeng Jews (1979-present day)
- Chapter 4 Deconstructing the Kaifeng Construction Office and the reconstruction of culture 133
- Historical synopsis 135
- Evangelists, ethnologists, and entrepreneurs 138
- An irreconcilable threesome 141
- Fatal antagonisms 146
- The internecine politics of the Construction Office 148
- Chapter 5 The promises and constraints of Sino-Judaic cultural activism 153
- Anomalies of Sino-Judaic cultural heritage activism 156
- The supporting NGOs 158
- The Yicileye School: A Judeo-Christian impetus 163
- Beit Hatikvah: the transition to religious culture 166
- The Jewish Community of Kaifeng: an ephemeral figment of unity 168
- Jin Guangyuan: the case for aliyah 170
- Shi Lei: promoting history and tourism 173
- Guo Yan: the challenge to authentication 176
- Chapter 6 Sukkot and Mid-Autumn Festivals in Kaifeng: Conundrums at the Crossroads of Sino-Judaic Cultural Identity 181
- Arrival in Kaifeng 182
- Sukkot and mid-autumn festivals 183
- Revival, return or retreat 186
- Convergences, incongruities and the question of authenticity 192
- Historical memory and contemporary practice 198
- Epilogue 203.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 9783034325431
- 3034325436
- 3034325452
- 9783034325455
- 3034325460
- 9783034325462
- OCLC:
- 964065656
- Publisher Number:
- 99971067533
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