Zhao Yingcheng (
Hebrew name: מֹשֶׁה בֶּן־אַבְרָהָם, ''Moshe ben Avraham'';
Traditional Chinese
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...
: 趙映乘;
[Michael Pollack, "The Jews of Kaifeng", p. 4] born 1619, died after 1663) was a Chinese philosopher and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
during the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
. He and his brother Zhao Yingdou, also a mandarin, held important government posts in the 1660s.
[Zhao 2005]
Life and career
Proficient in both
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
, Zhao, from the province of Henan, obtained the ''
jinshi
''Jinshi'' () was the highest and final degree in the imperial examination in Imperial China. The examination was usually taken in the imperial capital in the palace, and was also called the Metropolitan Exam. Recipients are sometimes referr ...
'' degree in 1646. He was named director of the Ministry of Justice. Four years later he was sent to
Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...
and
Huguang
Huguang was a province of China during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. It was founded by the Yuan dynasty in 1274. During the Yuan dynasty it included the areas of modern Hubei south of the Yangtze river, Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. During the Ming ...
as an official. He was remembered as an efficient administrator and excellent Confucian scholar who exterminated local bandits and founded schools.
[Li Yu, p. 258]
In 1642, near the end of the
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
,
Kaifeng
Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the No ...
was flooded by the Ming army with water from the
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...
to prevent the peasant rebel
Li Zicheng
Li Zicheng (22 September 1606 – 1645), born Li Hongji, also known by the nickname, Dashing King, was a Chinese peasant rebel leader who overthrew the Ming dynasty in 1644 and ruled over northern China briefly as the emperor of the short-li ...
from taking over. After this disaster, the city was abandoned. The synagogue of the
Kaifeng Jewish community (reportedly dating from 1163) was destroyed, and the Jews took refuge on the north side of the Yellow River. They took with them the Torah scrolls, which had been saved after having been thrown into the river, though they had grown moldy and illegible.
Ten years later, Zhao was detailed to restore the city. With the aid of his brother, Zhao Yingdou (), he induced the Jews to recross the river and take up their old quarters. The temple was rebuilt in 1653, with the personal financial support of Zhao.
One complete scroll of the Law was made up out of the fragments which had been saved from the river, and other copies were made from this. A stone stele dated 1663 was afterward erected, giving the details of Zhao Yingcheng's action.
Zhao wrote an account of the saving of the scrolls and the rebuilding of the temple, ''Record of the Vicissitudes of the Holy Scriptures''. His brother wrote ''Preface to the Illustrious Way'', believed to be an exposition of the tenets of
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...
. Both works are now lost, although in recent years Chinese scholars have begun a search for them in the libraries of Kaifeng,
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, and elsewhere.
All known descendants of Zhao are recorded to have perished from dysentery by the 17th century.
Notes
Sources
*Li Yu, ''A History of Reading in Late Imperial China, 1000–1800'', Ohio State University doctoral dissertation, 2003
*
Further reading
*J. Tobar, ''Inscriptions Juives de K'ai-fong-fou. Shanghai, 1900
*M. Adler, in ''
Jewish Quarterly Review
''The Jewish Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Jewish studies. It is published by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (University of Pe ...
'', xiii, 22–23
*Donald Leslie, "The K’aifeng Jew Chao Ying-Ch’eng and his Family." In ''Studies of the Chinese Jews: Selections from Journals East and West'', compiled by Hyman Kublin. New York: Paragon Book Reprint Corp., 1971
*— ''The Survival of the Chinese Jews: The Jewish Community of Kaifeng''. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1972
*''Mandarins, Jews, and Missionaries: The Jewish Experience in the Chinese Empire''. Philadelphia, 1980. Reprinted, 1983. 2nd ed., New York: 1998.
External links
"The Jews of Kaifeng"by Michael Pollack. The Sino-Judaic Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Yingcheng
1619 births
1650s deaths
17th-century Chinese philosophers
Chinese Confucianists
Chinese Jews
History of Kaifeng
Jewish Chinese history
Jewish politicians
Jews and Judaism in Kaifeng
Ming dynasty philosophers
People from Kaifeng
Politicians from Kaifeng