The Chinese Believe That the Jews Control America. Is That a Good Thing?

Prof. Xu Xins Institute of Jewish and Israel Studies at Nanjing University seeks to establish Chinese s holarshi! on Jews
By Clarissa Sebag"#ontefiore$March 27, 2 !"

Professor Xu Xin, 2010. (Israel and %olda &os hit'ky Centre for Jewish Studies( )ork University)

#Do the Jews Really Control America? asked one Chinese newsweekly headline in 2009. The factoids doled out in such articles and in ooks a out Jews in China!for e"am#le$ %The world&s wealth is in Americans& #ockets' Americans are in Jews& #ockets!would ri(htly e seen to e alarmin( in other conte"ts. )ut in China* where Jews are widely #ercei+ed as cle+er and accom#lished* they are meant as com#liments. ,can the shel+es in any ookstore in China and you are likely to find est-sellin( self-hel# ooks ased on Jewish knowled(e. .ost focus on how to make cash. Titles ran(e from /0/ .oney 0arnin( ,ecrets 1rom Jews& 2ote ooks to 3earn To .ake .oney 4ith the Jews.

The Chinese reco(ni5e* and em race* common characteristics etween their culture and Jewish culture. )oth races ha+e a lar(e dias#ora s#read across the (lo e. )oth #lace em#hasis on family* tradition* and education. )oth oast ci+ili5ations that date ack thousands of years. 6n ,han(hai* 6 am often told with nods of a##ro+al that 6 must e intelli(ent* sa++y* and 7uick-witted* sim#ly ecause of my ethnicity. 4hile it is true that the Chinese 6&+e met are fascinated y!rather than fear!the Jews* these assertions make me dee#ly uncomforta le. ,o* it was with a de(ree of a##rehension that 6 recently tra+eled to the former im#erial ca#ital of 2an8in( to s#end the day with 9rof. :u :in* director of the Diane and ;uilford ;la5er 6nstitute of Jewish and 6srael ,tudies at 2an8in( <ni+ersity. The first thin( :u did was su((est lunch. As we sat down to a steamin( tofu hot #ot* he woefully conceded that many Chinese elie+e the Jews to e %smart* rich* and +ery cunnin(. Just efore my +isit to 2an8in(* the Chinese tycoon Chen ;uan( iao made international headlines y #u licly announcin( his am itions to uy the 2ew =ork Times and later the 4all ,treet Journal. 6n a T> inter+iew he e*!lained that he would e an ideal news#a#er ma(nate ecause %6 am +ery (ood at workin( with Jews!who* he said* controlled the media. =et Chen #resuma ly* like the ma8ority of Chinese* has few concrete ideas a out the reality of Jewish history or #ractices. :u* the ?@-year-old #ioneer of Jewish studies in China* is cam#ai(nin( to chan(e that!and* y doin( so* challen(in( entrenched stereoty#es. The diminuti+e #rofessor has made it his life&s #ursuit to #resent a more nuanced +iew of the Jewish race and reli(ion to his countrymen$ one ased on scholarshi# rather than rumor. To this end he launched the 6nstitute of Jewish ,tudies in /992* the first of its kind in Chinese hi(her education. Today there are more than half a do5en similar #ro(rams across the country* many started y :u&s former students. 6n 2an8in(* Judaica courses!from Ancient Jewish Aistory to Ra inic 3iterature to Aolocaust ,tudies!ha+e #ro+ed #o#ular. Accordin( to :u one of the est-attended courses in the institute is Jewish Culture and 4orld Ci+ili5ation* in which /B to#ics are co+ered in a 20-week semester. 6t attracts rou(hly 200 under(raduate students #er term. ,ur+ey of Judaism and ,tudy of .onotheism* oth (raduate courses* ha+e enrollments of around C0 to D0. ,trun( u# around the unheated classrooms of the institute are dated #hoto(ra#hs of Jerusalem and fu55y lack-and-white ima(es of the death cam#s. )ookshel+es oast Chinese translations of the Aa((adah and :u&s own ooks* includin( his est-sellin( A Aistory of Jewish Culture. 6n a (lass ca inet sit +arious teachin( tools$ em roidered ki##as* ron5e menorahs* and #olished shofars. Thankfully* there is not a %(et rich 7uick manual in si(ht.

EEE The institute is funded lar(ely y forei(n Jewish donors* who ha+e their own interest in seein( #ortrayals of Judaism #ro#a(ated in a more alanced way. %Aatred and intolerance are red in i(norance* the e"ecuti+e director of the China Judaic ,tudies Association* )e+erly 1riend* a #atron of the institute* wrote to me in an email. %The institute #ro+ides knowled(e. :u was first introduced to )e+erly 1riend and her hus and Jim in the mid/9B0s* when the latter was teachin( 0n(lish at 2an8in( <ni+ersity' Jim was the first Jew :u had e+er met. 6n /9B? :u tra+eled to America for the first time* where he stayed with the 1riends in Chica(o. The tri# was re+elatory$ 2ot only did he learn how to use a fork ut he started attendin( ,ha at dinners and other Jewish cele rations. 6t con+inced him that China mi(ht e a le to learn somethin( from the 4est!and in #articular* from Jews. This con+iction was rooted in his own country&s recent resurfacin( from a traumatic #ast. 3ike many teena(ers at the time* :u was a Red ;uard durin( the Cultural Re+olution* one of the 5ealous youths who hel#ed destroy much of China&s own herita(e. %6 #artici#ated in the Cultural Re+olution. 4e all went throu(h the ;reat 3ea# 1orward* :u said* referrin( to .ao&s #ush for industriali5ation that hel#ed lead to a famine in which more than C0 million #erished. %4e started to feel from the ottom heart there is somethin( wron( with society. China needed new ideas. As China e(an to o#en u# a(ain to the 4est* :u read 4estern literature* which had een anned under .ao. Ae&d soon reali5ed that his fa+orite writers!J.D. ,alin(er* ,aul )ellow* 9hili# Roth!were Jewish Ftoday* many of their works are translated into Chinese and studied y colle(e and (raduate students in ChinaG. As #sycholo(y ecame #o#ular* :u del+ed into 1reud' he also held immense res#ect for Aenry Hissin(er* who orchestrated the start of American relations with China. 3ike ,alin(er* )ellow* 1reud* and the (odfather of Communism Harl .ar"* Hissin(er was a Jew. %Ae was a refu(ee and an immi(rant to the <.,.* ut within 20 years he had made his way to ecome secretary of ,tate. Aow come? :u wondered.

The search for an answer to that 7uestion ecame :u&s mission. Ae returned from two years in the <nited ,tates* and a formati+e official tri# to 6srael in /9BB* con+inced that Judaism could #ro+ide lessons for a youn( and hun(ry new China. %Ince we learned* we wanted to teach* he said. :u set u# uni+ersity classes* attended international seminars* and translated the 0ncyclo#edia Judaica into Chinese. 0+entually* once di#lomatic relations etween 6srael and China were esta lished in /992* he founded the 6nstitute of Jewish ,tudies. EEE 6f :u had the sense of disco+erin( somethin( new* the Jews were not e"actly stran(ers to China. Jews likely first arri+ed in China +ia the ,ilk Road almost /*000 years a(o. 6n the mid-/9th century* followin( the I#ium 4ars* 6ra7i Jews settled alon(side )ritish traders in ,han(hai* where many made their fortunes. China later acce#ted Jews takin( fli(ht from Russia* who made their homes in the leak snowy landsca#es of northern Aar in. 6n 4orld 4ar 66* tens of thousands of Jewish refu(ees fleein( 2a5i ;ermany flooded ,han(hai$ .ost left for Australia* America* or 6srael when the Communists (ained #ower in /9D9. Chinese state media has lon( cham#ioned #ositi+e #ortrayals of the Jews* in #art ecause Judaism* with its ethnically ased and non-e+an(elical nature* has #ro+ed less of a threat to the Communist 9arty than other forei(n monotheistic reli(ions* like Christianity or 6slam. FChina&s own Jewish #o#ulation* the &aifeng Jews* ha+e ein( almost com#letely assimilated.G Ai(h-#rofile Jewish fi(ures in the Chinese Communist 9arty&s own history include Sidney +ittenberg* the first American citi5en to 8oin the #arty* and the 8ournalist 6srael 0#stein* whose funeral was attended y former Chinese 9resident Au Jintao and former 9remier 4en Jia ao. China&s relationshi# to the Jewish state is more com#licated. 6n /990* :u was in+ited to #artici#ate in a closed meetin( of Chinese intellectuals* military #ersonnel* and #arty officials* which #osed the 7uestion$ ,hould China initiate formal di#lomatic relations with 6srael? The answer was no ! ut times ha+e chan(ed. Today China&s authoritarian (o+ernment is in+ested hea+ily in the oil states* includin( 6ran and 6ra7. )ut it is also increasin(ly for,ing ties with Israel. 6n 20/C* )en8amin 2etanyahu tra+eled to China* the first official +isit y an 6sraeli #rime minister in si" years. .any elie+e the tri# si(nals (rowin( Chinese interest in 6sraeli technolo(ies* as China attem#ts to transform itself from a manufacturin( to an inno+ation-and-knowled(e- ased economy.

#China is learnin( more technolo(y from 6srael* tradin( more* said :u* who was in the #rocess of creatin( a s#ecific course on 6srael to reflect this chan(e. %China finally decided to esta lish former di#lomatic relations with 6srael Jin /992K ecause they elie+ed that ein( friendly with Jews is (ood for China&s de+elo#ment and to chan(e China&s ima(e internationally. 6f China&s (lo al clout does not yet match its status as one of the world&s fastest-(rowin( economies* de+elo#in( closer ties with 6srael and the Jewish Dias#ora may e a relati+ely easy way to widen China&s influence* or so some Chinese leaders seem to elie+e. ,u##ort of 6srael also under#ins American #atrona(e of the institute. %)rin(in( China and the Jewish #eo#le and s#ecifically the Jewish state* 6srael* closer to(ether has merit* said John 1ishel* a consultant for the ;la5er 1oundation. %There are increasin( e"chan(es etween 6srael and China on a num er of le+els includin( academic* cultural* and economic. The (rowth of oth Jewish ,tudies and 6srael ,tudies in Chinese uni+ersities seems to e creatin( o##ortunities for the knowled(e ase to (row. EEE =et on a human le+el* at least* the (eo#olitical rationale for (reater Chinese-Jewish understandin( may #ale ne"t to the role that the Jews #lay in China&s own search to redisco+er itself. 4hen 3iu 2anyan( first studied history of the .iddle 0ast at 2an8in( <ni+ersity he ecame interested in how 6srael had mana(ed to sur+i+e. %There were many .iddle 0ast wars* ut 6srael was still there* he said. %,o* 6 wanted to know why. 2ow 3iu* 2B* is a doctoral student conductin( research into the Jewish roots of Christianity Fhe s#ent one year in Jerusalem as #art of his studiesG. As we sat in the uni+ersity* clutchin( #a#er cu#s of hot (reen tea to kee# us warm* 3iu earnestly rattled off similarities etween Jewish and Chinese culture. %0+en if some #eo#le elie+e in )uddhism or Daoism or Christianity* they li+e their e+eryday life accordin( to Confucianism* he e"#ounded. %The Jewish #eo#le elie+e in JdifferentK denominations like reform or li eral or e+en nonreli(ious. )ut usually their li+es follow traditional ideas. Then he #aused. %.ay e 6 should add a difference* he said cautiously. %Chinese culture is not so tolerant.

3iu comes from a family of farmers. They are also Christians. 6n China* where reli(ion is #ercei+ed as a threat to the rulin( Communist 9arty* Christians are routinely #ersecuted and worshi# is allowed only in officially sanctioned churches. %Any ideas or #hiloso#hy or cultures are controlled. 6n the #ast it was controlled y the im#erial em#erors and now y the #arty* said 3iu. %)ut Jewish #eo#le don&t ha+e such a stron( #olitical #ower. ,o* JJudaismK has more #luralism. 6t is this s#ace and allowance!e+en encoura(ement!for de ate that has hel#ed Jews make cultural and scientific strides in the world* 3iu said he elie+ed$ %6n the Talmud* for one 7uestion they ha+e different answers. )ut in China we ha+e JeitherK correct or incorrect. 6f someone has different o#inions* it is difficult to li+e. #Do you know how many Chinese 2o el 9ri5e winners there are? asked 3iu* not waitin( for an answer. Ae didn&t ha+e to. The Chinese ha+e lon( articulated am itions to win more 2o el #ri5es. F2o Chinese- orn scientist* for e"am#le* has e+er een awarded a 2o el 9ri5e for work in the mainland.G %The Jewish #o#ulation is +ery small ut the Chinese is i(* 3iu said. %Com#are that* if you will. 4hen we know that the Jewish #eo#le are so successful in oth science and human studies* we feel that may e we can learn from them. As the afternoon drew to a close* 6 mentioned Chen ;uan( iao* the illionaire who declared he is (ood at workin( with Jews. 3iu was e"as#erated y such reductions. #6n their minds* Jewish #eo#le control the anks in America. 6t means for them that Jewish #eo#le control the world* controls the (o+ernments* he railed* shakin( his hands in dis elief. %6 feel it&s a 8oke. 9rof. :u was more understandin(. %,tereoty#es are o+erem#hasi5ed. )ut in China this is #ositi+e* he said calmly. After all* he added$ %Aad the Jews achie+ed nothin(* no Chinese would e interested in them.