Bookstores in Chinese cities are stocked with dozens of Chinese-language books on how Jews conduct business, manage the world, and raise their children. At least ten universities throughout China offer popular Jewish Studies programs, some with advanced degrees. Yet there are virtually no Jews in China. The Chinese are constructing an identity for a people that the large majority of them will never meet. This edited volume critically examines the image of Jews from the contemporary perspective of ordinary Chinese citizens. It includes chapters on Chinese Jewish Studies programs, popular Chinese books and blogs about Jews, China’s relations with Israel, and innovative examinations of the ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng.
Price: $32.00
Pages: 256
Publisher: Academic Studies Press
Imprint: Academic Studies Press
Series: Jewish Identities in Post-Modern Society
Publication Date:
08 February 2019
Trim Size: 9.21 X 6.14 in
ISBN: 9781618117687
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
Social groups: religious groups and communities, Asian history, Judaism: life and practice
“You will not find a more revealing and useful series of portraits of Jewish life in China than this fascinating and expertly edited book. With it, a history and sociology of Chinese Jewry is now available for the English readers.”
James Rodman Ross is an Associate Professor at Northeastern University in Boston, former Fulbright lecturer at Nanjing University, and author of Fragile Branches: Travels Through the Jewish Diaspora (Riverhead, 2000).
Contributors vii
Introduction
(James R. Ross)
Perceiving Jews in Modern China
(Zhou Xun)
Images of Jews in Contemporary Books, Blogs and Films
(James R. Ross)
Distinctiveness: A Major Jewish Characteristic
(Fu Youde)
Chinese Policy toward Kaifeng Jews
(Xu Xin)
Sukkot and Mid-Autumn Festivals in Kaifeng: Conundrums at the Crossroads of Sino-Judaic Cultural Identity
(Moshe Y. Bernstein)
Understanding of the Bible among the General Public in Mainland China: A Survey on the “Bullet Curtain” of The Bible
(Meng Zhenhua)
The Changing Image of the State of Israel in People’s Daily during the Cold War
(She Gangzheng)
The Reception of Contemporary Israeli Literature in China
(Zhong Zhiqing)
China’s Relationship with Israel, Opportunities and Challenges: Perspectives from China
(Chen Yiyi)
Holocaust Studies and Holocaust Education in China
(Glenn Timmermans)
Reflections on Chinese Jewish Studies: A Comparative Perspective
(Song Lihong)
Index
