After learning about how many different Jewish ethnic division there were while researching my cultural project, I decided to do some further research on the Jewish ethnic divisions and subcultures of south and east Asia. In south and East Asia there are many different Jewish ethnic divisions. Among these groups are the Bene Israel, Cochin, Paradesi, Nasranis, Bagdhadi, Bnei Menashe, and Bnei Ephraim Jewish people who settled in various parts of India at various times. Most of these groups have migrated to Israel, though there are still some to be found in India. You also have the Pakistani Jews of Pakistan. There are some small Jewish communities in Krea and Japan, as well. Finally. In China there are many small groups of Jewish people, but the largest Jewish ethnic division in China are the groups of Kaifeng Jews.
I found the history of the Kaifeng Jews to be the most interesting, and so I decided to look into it a bit more for this culture post. The Kaifeng Jews were a small community of Jewish people who lived in Kaifeng in the Henan province of China. The Kaifeng Jewish community is believed to have been established sometime during the Tang dynasty (618-907) and have continued until the late nineteenth century. Today there are not many Jews in China but may of those who are have begun to reclaim there Jewish heritage and some have are once again claiming the title of Kaifeng Jews.
One of the most interesting thing I found in their history was the story that during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), a ming emperor gave seven surnames to the Jewish people, which are Ai, Shi, Gao, Jin, Li, Zhang, and Zhao. I found this interesting because in western societies there are some traditional Jewish names that are quite distinctive, such as Himmelfarb, Kaufman, and Steinberg. In fact, there many traditional surnames which end in either -stein or -berg.
Not many people know about the Jewish divisions in south and eastern Asia, and I found learning about them very interesting.
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