The Chinese Jews 



631 



mind and, quick as lightning, I pulled out 

 my folding camera and turned it toward 

 them, thinking to photograph the mur- 

 derous beasts before they butchered me. 

 The shock was tremendous ; they dropped 

 their bricks, knives, and clubs, and 

 crushed and jammed one another in their 

 rush from the "devil's glass." My friend, 

 interpreter, and soldiers very discreetly 

 banged and fastened the doors after 

 them, and the interpreter explained to 

 the Mohammedan priests that I was not 

 a Jew, 'but a British traveler, and only 

 wanted to see these things. They said if 

 I would promise that in the event of the 

 Jewish synagogue being rebuilt their 

 mosque would not be interfered with, 

 the people would be pacified and permit 

 me to see the ark and examine the tiles. 

 They are much afraid their mosque will 

 be destroyed if the synagogue is rebuilt, 

 in order to get tiles which they have 

 stolen. I promised everything they 

 asked. 



The ark (an old cylindrical case) is 

 purely Jewish, but the missing scroll they 

 informed me could not be seen, for it 

 was in a secret place. That evening, 

 about eight o'clock, four boxes of sweets, 

 cakes, and two baskets of tea were sent 

 to me by the priests, with the kind greet- 

 ings of the people, who had decided to 

 present their "elder brother" with the 

 ark, which they did the next morning. 

 When the Chinese make a present they 

 expect something equally valuable in re- 

 turn, so I sent a few dollars to each 

 priest, which proved to be a lucky move, 

 for I experienced no more trouble during 

 my stay. 



The Confucians are more kindly dis- 

 posed toward the Jews than the Moham- 

 medans (who always pull their gowns to 

 one side if they meet a Jew, which in 

 China is a vile insult) ; and so on visiting 

 their temples I had no difficulty — in fact, 

 one priest accompanied me to a small 

 temple in the southeast corner of the city, 

 where they have what is left of four 

 large marble pillars, taken from the Jew- 

 ish ruins in the early part of the sixth 

 century. It is interesting to note in Chi- 



nese history that at this time the Empress 

 Dowager Ling, attended by the imperial 

 consorts, ladies of the palace, princesses, 

 and others of high degree, ascended a 

 lofty hill and abolished the various cor- 

 rupt systems of religious worship, ex- 

 cepting that of the foreigner who prayed 

 toward the west. 



The broken pillars found in the Con- 

 fucian temple prove that the synagogue 

 was a place of considerable size and 

 beauty. It did not resemble the great 

 structures of Europe, on which untold 

 wealth has been expended in obtaining 

 the highest architectural art; neither 

 does it remind one of the modesty of the 

 form of supplication. This unique feat- 

 ure, as well as the fact of the chief cover- 

 ing his face with a gauze when reading 

 the laws, points to the antiquity of the 

 hidden tribe, who are but one of the 

 many tentacles torn from the main body 

 of Jerusalem. A short distance from this 

 temple I found an old, long, narrow stone 

 in the side of an empty mud hut, which 

 bore traces of an inscription dealing with 

 a "Foreign heaven chapel," in which the 

 foreigners that "pluck the sinews" fast 

 and weep together. I sent for two of the 

 most intelligent Jews, who were not 

 aware of its existence or location, and I 

 enjoyed their unmistakable surprise. 



On the second visit of the Jews to my 

 house I expressed a desire to see their 

 wives and daughters, and learned very 

 promptly that it would be impossible, as 

 the other Chinese women would say "bad 

 things" (the Chinese are undoubtedly the 

 most evil-minded people on earth) and 

 make their lives even harder to bear, but 

 if I wanted to take a photograph (this 

 was suggested with pecuniary anticipa- 

 tions), I might come to an appointed 

 place in a closed cart with a peep-hole, 

 and instruct my interpreter as to how the 

 photograph was to be taken. I embraced 

 the opportunity, and made an appoint- 

 ment for the following day, and secured 

 fine pictures of the Jewish women and 

 children, who had never looked into the 

 devil's glass before. That evening my 

 "elder brother" called again, and one old 



