Description: 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.
Review Quotes: "The amazing surge of interest in all things Jewish-Judaism, Jewishness, Jewish Studies-in contemporary China is one of the most remarkable phenomena in the contemporary globalized world. This superb volume of essays is the first to offer a truly sophisticated survey of different aspects of the Chinese-Jewish phenomenon, from the state of the contemporary Chinese-Jewish community in Kaifeng to China-Israel relations to the rise of Jewish Studies as an academic field in Chinese universities. With its many contributions from Chinese scholars in particular, this volume demonstrates the truly advanced level of 'Jewish' discourse in contemporary Chinese academic and intellectual life."