Jewish studies in China

EVA COHEN

Since I was scheduled to arrive in Nanjing, China, the day before Passover, I searched for a Jewish connection to the city online. That’s when I discovered Xu Xin, professor and director of the Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies at Nanjing University.

When I e-mailed Xu to see if there is a Jewish community in Nanjing, he responded the same day, saying that there wasn’t a permanent community, but that he might be holding a “Pessah” seder for his students and guests to the city. While it did not work out for Passover, a couple of weeks after arriving in Nanjing, I visited the university to meet Xu in person.

His office walls were decorated with pictures of famous rabbis and Israeli art. The first thing one sees when approaching the open doorway of the boardroom are two flags standing together in front of the eighth-floor windows: Israel’s and China’s, a red flag and a blue-and-white one. The right-hand wall of the room is entirely inhabited by an ark with a Torah. To the left is a full-wall showcase of Judaica, acquired from communities around the world, and the fourth wall houses a glass display of English, Hebrew and Chinese Jewish texts. These are but a sampling of the department’s works. Their library has 10,000 English texts, donated primarily from the United States, and, in a room across the hall, there are boxes with 5,000 additional texts that have just arrived, donated from England.

“At first I had no intention to study Jewish culture,” Xu said. “I was studying American literature and began to come across American Jewish literary authors; mainstream writers of the ’60s American literature, such as Bernard Malamud and Philip Roth.”

Xu began lecturing at the university about the contributions of Jews on the international stage, without having ever met a Jewish person. Then, in 1985, Jim Friend, from Chicago, came to Nanjing to teach, becoming the first Jew Xu encountered.

“And then I lived with a Jewish family, and that changed the whole course,” said Xu, who accompanied Friend back to the United States, where he lived with the family for a year in Lincolnwood, Ill. “Once you live with a Jewish family, you start to have the chance to observe Jewish life,” said Xu. “It led to having an understanding of the importance of the lessons that Jews have to share with the world; lessons that were very important for the Chinese, who are trying to modernize.

“For there to be change, there not only needs to be open policy, economic reform and investment, but there also needs to be new ideas,” he continued. “From Jewish tradition, there were many ideas that interested me; ideas that have been present within Jewish communities, but that are new for Chinese, and important for reform. This is how I made the move. I no longer study literature, but only Jewish studies.”

Xu said his first visit to Israel was in 1988 and, before his trip, most of China had never heard of the cultural aspects of the country. Many colleagues were confounded at his departure from the study of literature. “All we hear are negative things to do with the conflict,” he explained. “Now we better understand the importance of Israel as a state, as well as about Jews and their history.”

Since his initial visits, Xu has traveled many times between China, Israel and the United States, all the while accumulating a wealth of knowledge on Jewish culture and thought. His most extensive U.S. journey took place in 1995 and 1996, when he first went to Cincinnati to study Talmud for a year at Hebrew Union College, followed by Yiddish studies at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York; he concluded with additional research at the Centre for Jewish Studies at Harvard University.

The recipient of an honorary doctorate from Bar Ilan University in Israel for his contributions to Jewish studies in China, Xu has made an indelible mark upon the educational landscape in the country. For example, in coordination with the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Xu curated China’s first Holocaust exhibit. Many Chinese are interested in Holocaust studies because they draw a parallel to their own experience of large-scale massacres by invading Japanese during the Second World War, among other tragedies.

Xu has authored many English and Chinese scholarly articles, as well as English books that have been published in the United States. He has produced a 900-page Chinese edition of the Encyclopedia Judaica and his publications include two books on the now well-known Chinese Jewish community in the ancient city of Kaifeng: Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng and The Jews of Kaifeng, China: History, Culture and Religion. The former title was his first English work and was written in association with Prof. Beverly Friend (Jim Friend’s wife) of Oakton Community College, Ill.

In Chinese, Xu has written a college text on the history of the Jews and his book Antisemitism: How and Why is distributed to university libraries throughout China.

Xu’s great interest in Judaica has also included the translation of numerous Jewish-American and Israeli authors into Chinese. When Xu translated Nobel Prize-laureate Shmuel Yosef Agnon’s novelette In the Heart of the Seas, it was the first instance since 1949 of any Hebrew author being translated into Chinese.

From Xu’s independent studies and the introduction of his own classes at Nanjing University, the Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies was established in May of 1992. The new department was funded and introduced to “meet the growing demand for Judaic studies in China and to promote the study of Jewish subjects among Chinese college students and a better understanding between the two peoples – Chinese and Jewish – following the establishment of full diplomatic relations between China and Israel in January 1992.”

The institute, which includes Xu and two other colleagues – one of whom was recently a visiting lecturer in biblical Hebrew at the University of Alberta – teaches elective courses to 200-300 undergraduate students, and has around 18 master’s and doctorate candidates at any given point during the year.

“You have to understand the Chinese interest in Jews,” said Xu. “An ordinary Chinese person would not come across information on Jews, but intellectuals at college and university have a much broader view and access to information. They begin to see, through their studies, the Jewish concepts and that the whole world is influenced by Jewish contributions. If there are British studies, American, Canadian, why not Jewish studies? Jewish history is longer than that of any of these countries. Once the students see this, it becomes a topic for them to pursue.”

As Xu has been lecturing on Jewish studies for more than two decades, many of his former students now are professors in universities across China.

“They encourage their students to apply to the program in Nanjing,” said Xu. “If two out of every 100 students in a course at another college become interested enough to pursue the subject exclusively, that is still a lot.”

As a part of the program, Xu stressed the importance of a visit to Israel before a PhD candidate graduates. Current student Liu Nan Yang, who introduced himself by his Hebrew name, Natan, will be going to the Rothberg International School at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem next semester.

The MA and PhD students spend many of their days in the research office of the 3,000-square-foot Jewish studies institute. Their research includes the study of English and Hebrew texts, and several have advanced oral Hebrew. The topics are wide ranging: Yang Shu Chen is researching Indian Jews and identity, and Wang Xue is studying Maimonides and Jewish philosophy, while Zhang Bo (his Hebrew name is Gal, and both Bo and Gal translate into English as wave) spent the 2003-2004 year at Tel Aviv University and is focusing on Jews in the Ottoman Empire.

In addition to students’ research within the department, Xu also has initiated several international presentations, conferences and workshops. In the summers of 1997, 1999 and 2002, the institute conducted three-week-long workshops on Jewish history and culture, which attracted 100 Chinese scholars.

In March of this year, Xu returned from a five-month tour of North America, where he lectured in 16 states and 40 cities. He also spent 11 days in Ontario, where he gave five separate presentations at York University, the University of Toronto and McMaster University. During the presentations, he also made a call for paper submissions to the Monotheism and Postmodernism Conference at Nanjing University in June, of which he is chair of the organizational committee. There are confirmed participants from England, Australia, Israel, the United States and, so far at least, one submission from a Jewish student at McMaster.

In addition to encouraging scholars to visit, Xu extended an open invitation for Canadian Jews to visit Nanjing and the university.

“If Canadian Jews meet the students here, it gives them encouragement. Many college students do not have a chance to meet foreigners,” said Xu, adding that the program is always looking to increase their collection of Jewish texts and the department strives to give each student a full scholarship.

Eva Cohen is a Canadian freelance writer currently in China working as an English foreign expert.

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