Customer Reviews

The Jews of Kaifeng, China: History, Culture, and Religion

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The book, "The Jews of Kaifeng, China: History, Culture and Religion," by Xin Xu is a wonderful work which describes in great detail the culture, religious rites and history of the community of Jews that settled in Kaifeng back when it was the capital city.
He talks about relations with their neighbors, their clothing styles, religion, customs, language, diet and more.
Xin conducts a thorough and intricate study regarding this unique and astounding group of Jews who were cut off from the rest of the Jewish world for centuries.
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The Jews Of Kaifeng, China: History, Culture, And Religion by Ux Xin (Nanjing University) examines the indigenous Jewish community that lived in the city of Kaifeng in northeastern China. Far removed from the rest of the world, the Kaifeng Jews gradually adopted Chinese customs into their traditional way of life, and intermarried with the non-Jewish populace, so that eventually their descendants were almost completely assimilated. A truly fascinating and extensively researched historical study, The Jews Of Kaifeng is a unique and very welcome contribution to Judaic Studies reference shelves and supplemental reading lists.

The book has loads of facts but I found it read more like a textbook than a summer reading book