Theology of the Chinese Jews, 1000–1850

Inbunden, Engelska, 2012

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A thousand years ago, the Chinese government invited merchants from one of the Chinese port synagogue communities to the capital, Kaifeng. The merchants settled there and the community prospered. Over centuries, with government support, the Kaifeng Jews built and rebuilt their synagogue, which became perhaps the world's largest. Some studied for the rabbinate; others prepared for civil service examinations, leading to a disproportionate number of Jewish government officials. While continuing orthodox Jewish practices they added rituals honouring their parents and the patriarchs, in keeping with Chinese custom. However, by the mid-eighteenth century - cut off from Judaism elsewhere for two centuries, their synagogue destroyed by a flood, their community impoverished and dispersed by a civil war that devastated Kaifeng - their Judaism became defunct. The Theology of the Chinese Jews traces the history of Jews in China and explores how their theology's focus on love, rather than on the fear of a non-anthropomorphic God, may speak to contemporary liberal Jews. Equally relevant to contemporary Jews is that the Chinese Jews remained fully Jewish while harmonizing with the family-centred religion of China. In an illuminating postscript, Rabbi Anson Laytner underscores the point that Jewish culture can thrive in an open society, ""without hostility, by absorbing the best of the dominant culture and making it one's own.""

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2012-02-28
Mått152 x 229 x 25 mm
Vikt306 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor175
FörlagWilfrid Laurier University Press
ISBN9781554583720

Tillhör följande kategorier

Religion: allmänt inom Filosofi och religion
Judendom inom Filosofi och religion

Jordan Paper is a professor emeritus at York University (East Asian and Religious Studies) and a fellow at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria. He studied Buddhist Chinese at and received his doctorate in Chinese Language and Literature from the University of Wisconsin (Madison). His many books on religion and Chinese philosophy include The Fu-Tzu: A Post-Han Confucian Text, The Spirits Are Drunk: Comparative Approaches to Chinese Religion, The Chinese Way in Religion (2nd edition), and The Mystic Experience: A Descriptive and Comparative Approach.

The Theology of the Chinese Jews, 1000-1850 by Jordan PaperPrologueAcknowledgmentsChapter 1: Introduction: The Four QuestionsWho Are the Chinese Jews?Are the Chinese Jews Jewish?What Are the Sources for the Theology of the Chinese Jews?Is This Theology Relevant Today?Chapter 2: From Whence They Came to Where They WentThe Extent of the DiasporaJewish Life under Christianity and Islam: Tenth to Twelfth CenturiesThe Sea Route to China and the Settlement in KaifengChapter 3: Life in China: Tenth to Nineteenth CenturiesReligionEducationSocial StructureGovernmentEconomyCultureChapter 4: Brief History of Buddhism and the Abrahamic Traditions in ChinaThe Buddhist Experience in ChinaChristianity to the Mid-Nineteenth CenturyChristianity in China after the de Facto Demise of JudaismIslamJudaismChapter 5: The Sinification of JudaismVeneration of Ancestors: Family, Tribal, Religious, and CulturalEducation and Its Relationship to JudaismThe Kaifeng Jews and Their NeighboursChinese JudaismChapter 6: A Speculative Theology of the Chinese JewsThe Names of God: HebrewThe Kaifeng Synagogue's Stelae and PlaquesThe Names of God: ChineseThe Nature of CreationMonotheism from a Chinese PerspectiveA Speculative Chinese-Jewish TheologyAssimilation and TheologyHistorical and Cultural ContextEpiloguePostscript: What Western Jews Can Learn from the Kaifeng Jews Rabbi Anson LaytnerAppendix: Chinese Logographs for Terms and Translations in Chapter 6NotesReferences

``In this fascinating work, Jordan Paper not only explores the intricacies of Chinese Jewish theology, but also the meaning of being a Jew. Long a student of comparative theology and the phenomenon of the Chinese Jews, Paper details the development of Chinese Jewish theology and considers how this theology was impacted by the surrounding culture.... Paper comes to the conclusion that these were indeed Jews from whom western Jews can learn a great deal.'' -- Randall C. Belinfante, African Sephardi Federation -- AJL Reviews (Association of Jewish Libraries), Vol. 111 #1, February/March 2013, 201303