The mail which arrived from East India and China about the middle
or end of March last, brought news of the discovery of a race of
Jews in the interior of the latter country, of which I have seen
no notice taken by the English press.
It being a subject in which a number of your readers will
probably feel interested, and but comparatively few of them see
the China newspapers, I beg to enclose you an account from the
_Overland China Mail_, dated Hong Kong, Jan. 29, 1851.
The existence of a fragment of the family of Abraham in the interior of
China has been certainly known for upwards of two hundred years, and
surmised much longer. The Jesuit Ricci, during his residence at Peking
in the beginning of the seventeenth century, was the means of exciting
the attention of foreigners to the Jews of Kai-fung-fú, the ancient
capital of Ho-nan province. In 1618 they were visited by Aleni, a
follower of Ricci; and a hundred years later, between 1704 and 1723,
Fathers Gozani, Domenge, and Gaubil were enabled from personal
investigation on the spot to give minute descriptions of the people,
their synagogue and sacred books, the latter of which few could even
then read, while the former was, with the peculiar institutions of
Moses, fast falling to decay. Beyond a few feeble and ineffective
efforts on the part of Biblical critics, nothing was subsequently
attempted to maintain a communication with this handful of Jews until in
1815 some brethren in London addressed a letter to them in Hebrew, and
offered a large reward if any one would bring an answer in the same
language. The letter was entrusted to a Chinese bookseller, a native of
the province, who is reported to have delivered it, which was doubted,
as he brought no written answer.
Recently the Jews' Society in London, encouraged by the munificence of
Miss Cook, who placed ample funds at their disposal, instituted
enquiries on the subject, and sought the co-operation of the Bishop of
Victoria, who having previously opened a correspondence with Dr.
Medhurst on the subject, during his Lordship's recent visit to Shanghae,
the plan of operations was agreed upon. This was to despatch two Chinese
Christians, one of them a literary graduate, the other a young man with
a competent knowledge of English, acquired at the London Missionary
School. The _North China Herald_ of the 18th January contains an
interesting account of their mission, from which we gather the following
particulars.
The two emissaries started on the 15th November last, and after an
absence of fifty-five days, returned to Shanghae, the distance between
the two cities being about six hundred miles.[1] Arrived at their
destination, they found in the decayed city of Kai-fung-fú, both
Mohamedans and Jews, the latter poverty-stricken and degraded, their
synagogue in a state of dilapidation, and the distinguishing symbols of
their religion nearly extinct. The books of the Law, written in a small
square character on sheepskin, are however still preserved, although it
would seem for many years they have been seen by no one able to read
them.
[Footnote 1: Kai-fung-fú, according to Williams's map, is situated
about a league from the southern bank of the Hwang-ho, or Yellow
River, in 34° 55´ N. Lat., and 114° 40´ E. Long.]
The Jesuits mention the existence of the sacred books, but were not
suffered to copy or even to inspect them; but the Chinese Christians
encountered no such scruples; so that, besides taking copies of
inscriptions on the stone tablets, they were enabled to bring away eight
Hebrew manuscripts, six of them containing portions of the Old
Testament, and two of the Hebrew liturgy. The correspondent of the
_North China Herald_ states that--
"The portions of Scripture are from the 1st to the 6th chapters of
Exodus, from the 38th to the 40th chapters of the same book,
Leviticus 19th and 20th chapters, Numbers 13th, 14th, and 15th
chapters, Deuteronomy from the 11th to the 16th chapters, with the
32nd chapter of that book. Various portions of the Pentateuch,
Psalms, and Hagiographa occur in the books of prayers, which have
not yet been definitely fixed. The character in which these
portions are written is an antique form of the Hebrew, with
points.[2] They are written on thick paper, evidently by means of
a style, and the material employed, as well as the silk in which
the books are bound, exhibit marks of a foreign origin. Two
Israelitish gentlemen, to whom they have been shown in Shanghae,
say that they have seen such books in Aden; and the occurrence
here and there of Persian words, written with Hebrew letters, in
the notes appended, seem to indicate that the books in question
came originally from the western part of Asia, perhaps Persia or
Arabia. There is no trace whatever of the Chinese character about
them, and they must have been manufactured entirely by foreigners
residing in China, or who have come from a foreign country.
Regarding their age, it would be difficult to hazard even a
conjecture."
[Footnote 2: The Jesuits state expressly that the Hebrew was without
points.]
The result of this mission has been such that it cannot be doubted
another will be sent, and we trust the attempt at least will be made by
some discreet foreigner--a Jew, or at all events a Hebrew scholar--to
penetrate to Kai-fung-fú; for although the proofs brought away on the
present occasion are so far satisfactory, yet in the account given, on
the authority of the Chinese emissaries, we presume, there are several
things that might otherwise excite incredulity.