On 18th August 1723, Father Antoine Gaubil (1689–1759) wrote to Father Jean-Baptiste Du Halde (杜赫德, 1674–1743). The letter said, “Father Matteo Ricci found that the content of the Pentateuch of the Kaifeng Jews that he saw was exactly like that of the Hebrew Pentateuch that he had…. The Jews claimed that this scroll had been in Kaifeng for six hundred years.”

Father Matteo Ricci sent his representatives to Kaifeng to copy their ancient Torah Scroll in 1608. Since this scroll had been in Kaifeng for 600 years, it must have arrived in China sometime around the year 1008, during Emperor Zhen-zong (宋真宗, reign 997–1022), ruler of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chen Chang-qi, a Chinese History professor at the Zhenzhou University (郑州大学), pointed out that, according to Annals of Zhen-zhong (真宗紀) — part of the History of Song (宋史): “On the 20th February 998, the Monk Niweini came to the Imperial Court from a region west of China; he said the journey took seven years (咸平元年春正月……辛巳，僧你尾尼等自西天来朝，称七年始达).”

Professor Chen equated the group headed by Monk Niweini and who visited the Song Court with the group that included the Li Clan and paid tribute to the Song Court, as per the stone inscription of 1489.

Thus, Professor Chen concluded that Monk Niweini was the leader of the Jewish congregation that came into Kaifeng on 20th January 998. This happened in the first year of Emperor Zhen-zong’s (宋真宗) reign, 38 years into the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The North Song Dynasty has generally sought peace and unity with the outside world. Foreigners were allowed to retain their religious faith and preserve their customs and traditions. Many came to China to pay tribute to the emperor and traded actively with the locals.

The 1489 Stone Inscription noted that the Jewish congregation "brought tribute."

The Annals of Zhen-zong noted that the Niweini delegation came “to the Court.” Both entourages visited the Imperial Court and paid tribute accordingly.

Since both the inscription of 1489 and the Annals of Zhen-zong did not mention any official country-affiliation of the visitors, they are assumed to be private individuals.

It is possible official Chinese sources did not record these visits as thoroughly because they were private individuals rather than officials sent by foreign governments.

Indeed, according to the Annals of Zhen-zong, the word Monk was attached to Niweini.

Even though the word monk (僧) was primarily used to refer to male Buddhist monks, it is a term that can refer to followers of other religions as well. During the Song Dynasty, the Jewish faith was relatively unknown to the Chinese populace; hence, the term monk (僧) to refer to a man of any religion is more than reasonable.

Furthermore, merchants belonged to the lowest social class in Confucian China. Along the Silk Road, they were closely monitored — each individual was issued travel passes that recorded the parties they travelled with, the animals and goods they carried and the exact order in which their travel route could take. Thus, if they could travel with fewer items, many merchants would travel under professions such as monks and adventurers in exchange for more freedom of movement.

Professor Zhang Qian-hong, born in 1964, is a native of Henan Province. She is a renowned Chinese scholar of Judaism and authored papers such The Causes for assimilation of Kaifeng Jews in History (历史上开封犹太人被同化的原因) and Some Observations on the Descendants of the Jews in Kaifeng (关于开封犹太后裔的几个问题). On the issue of the Jewish identity of the modern-day descendants, Professor Zhang, in her article, The Descendants of the Kaifeng Jews in the 20th Century, wrote, “Today, most of the descendants in Kaifeng knew nothing about Jewish life, religion and culture. They think they are complete Chinese and, of course, profess a strong sense of patriotism to China — their motherland. But, on the other hand, compared with the Han Chinese, they still have a special feeling for their Jewish roots. They do know that they are Jewish descendants and always ask their children to remember this fact.” Professor Zhang is also the Vice Principal of Zhengzhou University (郑州大学).

Professor Zhang supports the theory that the early Jews entered China on 20th February 998, based on the fact that the History of Song (宋史) recorded a 僧 (a word typically used to refer to a Buddhist monk, but, especially in ancient times, also used to refer to the worshipper of any religion) by the name of Niweini (你尾尼) travelling seven years from India to China to pay homage to Emperor Song Zhen-zong (宋真宗, reign 997–1022); and that this Niweini was indeed the Jewish rabbi who led an entourage into the Middle Kingdom.