A heavy fall of snow and a deep minus-2 degree chill feeding my bones toughened me up as I exited the train from Qingdao for my first day in Kaifeng. A long morning of settling in to my surroundings and lodging made its way into the afternoon, when I finally ventured out through heavy sleet to the Kaifeng Museum. A series of Chinese displays and ancient pottery and earthenware did little to impress me, due to my inability to read Chinese script. Nevertheless, the main reason I visited was to find out something more about the so-called lost Jews of this city, this ancient capital of China’s Song Dynasty. Efforts to locate an apparent Institute for the Research of Chinese Jewish History apparently on location at the museum according to Lonely Planet were met with seemingly blank looks from the workers there - all they could indicate of the Jewish presence was the exhibition locked away on the fourth floor upstairs, which was only open upon request for a fee of 50yuan (entry to the museum itself is free). I pleaded for more information on the Jewish community in Kaifeng and some contact that I could speak to for more information, but was told in no uncertain terms they could not help me.
It is true that the Internet has now reaped plenty of rewards on this account. Nevertheless, their reaction did impress me as fair enough – either they did not know anything, or were not meant to, and after twenty minutes of pressuring I was very content with that. Making the journey up to the fourth floor was a lonely but intriguing ascent, accompanied by my vacant-looking, yet friendly, ‘interpreter’ and one very cool, old Chinese keymaster. No photos allowed, but not too much to really take photos of. Three exhibits in all – two large Chinese style inscription stones from the Jewish temple of Kaifeng (first destroyed around the 13th century, its replacement apparently destroyed by floods and to make way for the construction of the city wall in the 17th) and a ritual basin for washing of hands. My ‘interpreter’ told me some basic historical information I could have gleamed from a couple of paragraphs on the internet. The experience was an eerie one. Making the lonely ascent back down, our footsteps echoed through the still, silent corridors, then the clinking of the keys as the door locked behind me, it felt as if an unknown part of history was being concealed not only from me but the world itself.
Stories relate that a Jesuit priest in China met a man in Kaifeng who described himself as a believer in God and was found out to be an Israelite, though he had never heard of the word ‘Jew’ before. This seems interesting to me regarding what I have recently uncovered that many people believe Ashkenazi Jews to actually be descendants of Central Asian Kazhars who converted to Judaism and not in fact descendents of the Israelites of Palestine. Other information I have found online relates that Jews in Babylonian exile (supposedly Sephardics) may have felt disgruntled with their community and come through India and finally made their way to China. So the Jews of Kaifeng were Sephardic? History really is a mystery. Some know, others don’t, some believe they know, others know they don’t, and various intentions, good and bad, disguise the truth which slips away into the treasure trove of the past. Makes you wonder once again what is a Jew, who is a Jew, does it really matter, or how important it could be.
The next day I made my way to the old synagogue, which was now located inside the grounds of a hospital, and very easily found my way to Esther’s house, descendant of some of the last remaining Jews in Kaifeng. A narrow hutong labeled ‘Torah Lane’ in both Hebrew, English and Chinese at its entrance led its way finally to Esther’s grandmother’s house. The home was indeed part of the original synagogue itself and here Esther had set up a miniature museum, where she welcomed me very warmly and spoke in great English about the history of the Jews in Kaifeng and what little remained up until this day. As her old grandmother sat with her friends in the next room heavily focused on their game of ma jiang and nought else, Esther spoke to me with knowledge and pride about Kaifeng’s Jewish history and the importance of retaining the remnants of the old capital’s Jewish culture.
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