Show The Chinese Jews The Chines ItvsJws native of China hhavc been rediscovered The Under hap pen to be a Jew Terr I J J Llebermunn un officer In the German army of occu pation in KlaoChnu Ucdlscoverod Is a rorrectterm for from Marco Polo lo the prcsrnt tlmo Chinese books of truvcJ have made constant reference to tim stlekora of the lnowB to lie white and the black Jews of China Herr Llebernvmn writes of a dwindling community that has been nettled for 2O your at Krtlfengnu capi tal of Iho province of Ifonnn on the Yel low river Jle noticed In Unit city neo pie of u Semitic cast of countenance und these ho wax Informed wore the Tlan JvlnTchlans the temirers of time sinew On the door of the Chinese shIngle ho read in Hebrew the word Jekemlah which no trnnslatns place where God absernblea his people There JH however no evi dence that these people belong to tho lout ten trlben Such speculation depends de-pends upon their Ignorance of the Ninth of Ab hut the high priest Informed time German Jewish officers that his people came by way of Persia Khoraiwnn and Samnrcand lo China three years after Iho destruction of the Temple in Salem There IP however abundant reason for a thorough and searching Inquiry Into tin history and nffaJrH of this pigtailed Jewry Jew-ry on the Yellow river Herr Mebermnnn wan hoxrn the ruins of a temple which from its doTlptlan corrtsponds somewhat some-what with that which once crowned tho heights of Zion He was Indeed showrt the foundation stone with Its Inscription and its atone picture of the temple Such an outline must be rare but the Inscrip tion which seems to bo In Chinese corresponds cor-responds with tradition so far that It Plates thai the Jews arrived from the lest In time Han Dynasty and that the Emperor Mlngl mado them welcome According Ac-cording to Chinese historians the Han Dynasty MourlHhed about 5S C 13 Oa the other hand Herr Llebormann says that through LI Hung Chung be learned that under this Tang dynasty CIS to GW C E the Jews In Honan were so numerous thai the Emperor built them a temple at Kalf cnKiiu and that the records concerning such a temple show that It was erected In tho middle of the itnth century and that In 1421 It was enlarged and bcautl lod The dales thug disagree Whether the chronology or the faets are wrong we do not know but the especial reason for an Inquiry Is that this obscure congregation con-gregation has preserved though It Is ignorant Ig-norant of Hebrew many writings deal log with the last years of Jewish Independence Inde-pendence and the beginning of the Roman occupation of Palestine Here Is posl bly a valuable addition to our history outweighing If It Is genuine all the manuscript man-uscript discoveries of Eastern synagogue lumber rooms Jewish World |