Theory that Jews first entered China during the Song
1489 Stone Inscription (弘治碑)
The 1489 Stone Inscription stated the following: Truly, the way of this religion has been handed down, the transmission and reception have been in sequence. It came out from Tianzhu in obedience to the divine command. There were seventy or more surnames, including Li, An, Ai, Gao, Mu, Zhao, Jin, Zhou, Zhang, Shi, Huang, Li, Nie, Jin, Zhang, Zuo and Bai who brought Western Cotton Cloth (西洋棉布) in tribute to the Song Court. The emperor said, “Be part of my Middle Kingdom, follow the custom of your ancestors, stay in Kaifeng (归我中夏, 遵守祖风, 留遗汴梁).”
Indeed, the inscriptions noted that the Jews came from India as cotton merchants — and their tribute to the emperor was highly appreciated. As a token of thanks, the emperor granted the Jews permission to permanently settle down in China.
Professor Xu Xin (徐新), early Song
Professor Xu Xin, the Diane and Guilford Glazer Chair Professor of Jewish and Israel Studies at Nanjing University, is one of China’s leading scholars in Judaic Studies. In his book, The Jews of Kaifeng, China, Professor Xu wrote that “it is more than likely that Jews arrived in Kaifeng in the early Song.”
Professor Qi Si-he (齐思和), textile experts
Professor Qi Si-he (齐思和, 1907–1980) was a Harvard-educated Chinese historian who served as the Head of Department of History and Literature at Yanjing University (燕京大學). He suggested that the Jewish immigrants were invited to settle in Kaifeng during the Song Dynasty because of their expertise concerning textiles, including both manufacturing and dyeing.
Kaifeng Jews in 1608, 1008
In 1608, Father Matteo Ricci (利玛窦, 1552–1610) sent two representatives to Kaifeng to copy the Torah. The Kaifeng Jews told the visitors that this ancient Scroll had been in Kaifeng for 600 years. This dates the scripture's presence in China to 1008, during the reign of Emperor Zhen-zong (宋真宗, reign 997–1022) of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Professor Chen Chang-qi (陈长琦), 998
According to Professor Chen Chang-qi of Zhengzhou University (郑州大学), an individual by the name of Niweini appeared on the Annals of Zhen-zhong (真宗紀): “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 believes this Niweini is the same person as the leader of the Jewish congregation that paid the tribute of five-coloured cotton to Emperor Zhen-zong (宋真宗, reign 997–1022), and brought into China the ancient Torah that Father Ricci's representatives saw in the year 1608.
Professor Zhang Qian-hong (張倩紅), 20th February 998
Professor Zhang Qian-hong, a native of Henan Province, is a renowned Chinese scholar on Judaism and Vice Principal of Zhengzhou University (郑州大学).
Professor Zhang supports the theory that Niweini was indeed a Jewish rabbi. Under his leadership, the Jewish congregation travelled from a region west of China and reached Kaifeng on 20th January 998.
Professor Gao Wang-zhi (高望之), end of 10th century
Chinese scholar, Professor Gao Wang-zhi (高望之), whose research focused on the assimilation of the Kaifeng Jews, suggested that there were two primary waves of early Jewish immigration into China.
The first was the Radanite Wave. These Jews entered China around the end of the 10th century and the beginning of the 11th century. They brought with them the Persian language and culture, which can still be found in the surviving documents of the Kaifeng synagogue.
The second was the Mongol Wave. These Jews entered China with the Mongol army upon their return from military campaigns in Central Asia. This influx might be pretty big and significant. The first reference to the Jews as a distinct group of people appeared in the official Chinese government records during the Yuan Dynasty.
Professor Pan Guang-dan (潘光旦), before 1120
Professor Pan Guang-dan Quentin (1899–1967), with a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a Master’s Degree from Columbia University, is often accredited as the father of Chinese anthropology. Amongst his many scholarly pursuits, was the history of the Jews in ancient China.
According to Professor Pan, most western Jews celebrated Hannukah (光明节), a commemoration of independence created following the Maccabean uprising in the 2nd century BCE. The Kaifeng Jews, however, most likely did not know anything about this holiday — none of the early Jesuits or later missionaries who visited Kaifeng recorded whether the city’s Jews celebrated, or even knew of, the Feast of the Lights.
If the Jews were not aware of the existence of this holiday, it would have meant that their arrival would have taken place before the establishment of the holiday and that they were utterly cut off after that from the other Jews. Professor Pan thus suggested that Kaifeng Jews left their homeland before the Maccabean Revolt (马加比起义) in 165 BCE.
According to a New York Times article, Ancient Jews of China: The Last Trace is Fading, dated 18th May 1982, Professor Pan believed the Jews left Israel as early as the 2nd century BCE “based partly on their Scripture, which encompassed only the Pentateuch and the earlier prophets of the Old Testament.” He further believed that the Jews first migrated to India, “where they lived for 1,100 years in the Cochin Jewish world of what is now Bombay before sailing on to China sometimes in the 11th century.”
Around 1120, China was under attack by its nomadic neighbour in the north — the Jurchens (女真人). The level of disruption this large-scale conflict caused was likely to deter travels in and out of China significantly. Thus, Professor Pan believed that the Jewish congregation was alleged to have settled in Kaifeng before the turmoil caused by the war.
Professor Leslie, in Kaifeng during the Northern Song
Professor Donald Daniel Leslie (1922–2020) was one of the leading scholars of Judaism in China. A Cambridge-educated veteran, Professor Leslie published over 20 books in English, French, and Hebrew, including The Survival of the Chinese Jews; The Chinese-Hebrew Memorial Book of the Jewish Community of Kaifeng; Islam in Traditional China: A Short History to 1800; Jews and Judaism in Traditional China: A Comprehensive Bibliography. Professor Leslie believed that the Jews arrived in Kaifeng during the Song Dynasty, even though there may have been Jews in China already prior to that time.