猶太人在華千年，不見排擠和壓迫

What is something that needs to be said about the Jews?

Alexey Tereshchenko

住在拉托維亞的俄羅斯人

One of my favourite Jewish stories happened in China.

我最喜歡的猶太故事之一發生在中國。

In 1605, Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionary living in Beijing, received an unexpected visit. A middle-aged Chinese mandarin hugged him, tears in his eyes, and said: My brother! We are of the same religion! The Jesuit was startled. Was there a Christian community in China he never heard about? He led him to the prayer room. The guest was surprised: apparently, his community prayed somewhat differently. He looked at the image of Holy Virgin and said that he had never seen a depiction of Rebecca with Jacob before. This was when the truth started to dawn upon Ricci: his guest was a Jew.

1605年，當時住在北京的耶穌會傳教士利瑪竇，有了一次意料之外的拜訪。一名中年的中國官員擁抱了他，眼中含淚說到：我的兄弟！我們是一個信仰的！利瑪竇很驚訝。難道在中國有一個他從未聽過的基督教群體嗎？利瑪竇把官員領進祈禱室。客人驚奇地發現，顯然，他們族群的祈禱方式和利瑪竇有點不一樣。他看著聖母像，說他從未見過「利百加」和「雅各」在一起的畫像。

譯者註：當他看到一個基督教圖片上的瑪利亞和幼年耶穌時，他認為那是利百加(Rebecca)和以掃(Esau)或者雅各(Jacob)。

這時，利瑪竇開始明白了：這位客人是猶太人。

Yes. The community he never heard about was Jewish. No one knows when Jews came to the Chinese city of Kaifeng. By Ricci』s time, they had intermarried a lot with Chinese and looked absolutely the same with them. They had surnames Ai, Shi, Gao, Gan, Jin, Li, Zhang, and Zhao. They practised their religion, but they also venerated their ancestors in a Chinese way and they were absolutely free to pursue any career in China. They never heard about Christians.

不錯。這個他從未聽說過的群體，就是猶太人。沒人知道猶太人什麼時候來到中國的開封府。在利瑪竇之前，他們已經與中國人通婚，並且和中國人長的別無二致。他們的姓有艾姓、石姓、高姓、贛姓、金姓、李姓、張姓、趙姓。他們行著自己的教務，但也用中國的方式來祭拜先祖，而且在中國選擇職業是絕對自由的。他們從未聽說過基督徒。

譯者註：本文作者Alexey Tereshchenko認為這些漢姓是明朝皇帝所賜，而中文網頁資料則認為是開封猶太人自取。

Now, before proceeding, I must say few words about Matteo Ricci. Here he is.

現在，在進一步敘述之前，我必須說說利瑪竇這個人。看他的畫像：

Ricci was 27 when he came to Macau to spread the word of God. He was Italian, from Macerata in the Marche and he received an excellent education that included classical studies, law, philosophy, theology, mathematics, cosmology, and astronomy. It served him well in China.

利瑪竇到澳門傳道時時年27。他是義大利人，來自馬爾凱大區的馬切拉塔城。他受到了良好的教育，包括古典學、法律、哲學和神學、數學、宇宙學和天文學。這些幫助他在中國良多。

His fame spread through China and reached the ears of the Kaifeng Jews. They learned that a foreigner reached prominence in Beijing, that he was monotheist and not a Muslim. As I said, they never heard anything about Christians. Therefore, they concluded that he was a Jew. And the Jewish mandarin Ai Tian 艾田, coming to Beijing for the examinations to get the jinshi 進士 degree, visited the venerable foreigner.

他的名聲傳遍中國，進了開封猶太人的耳中。他們得知一個外國人在北京獲得威望，而且是非穆斯林的一神教徒。如我所說，他們從未聽說過基督徒的事情。理所當然的，他們就把他當作猶太人。當時進京考進士的猶太官員艾田，就拜訪了這位尊貴的外國人。

Other Kaifeng Jews followed Ai Tian. They brought Matteo Ricci Jewish texts from the synagogue and saw that he could read them better than their Rabbi. The Rabbi, learning about it, offered to make Ricci the Chief Rabbi of China if he only stopped eating pork. Of course, the Jesuit thankfully declined the proposal.

其他的開封猶太人跟著艾田去了。他們從猶太教堂那裡帶了一些猶太文書給利瑪竇，看看他是否能比他們的拉比讀得更好。這位學習了文書的拉比，願意把利瑪竇奉為中國首席拉比，只要他不再吃豬肉。當然，利瑪竇婉拒了邀請。

譯者註：利瑪竇出於找尋更古老版本《聖經》的目的委派了一個中國耶穌會士探訪了開封；其後陸續有其他耶穌會士也探訪了開封。隨後又發現那裡的猶太社群有一個猶太會堂-禮拜寺，擁有大量文字材料和經書。其中經書後來多半被西方傳教士購走，至今流散世界各地。

However, since that time Jesuits established close relations with Kaifeng Jews. They even tried to use this incredible friendship a century later, when their rivals, Dominicans and Franciscans, brought a case against Jesuits before the Pope.

儘管如此，從那以後耶穌會教士就與開封猶太人建立了密切聯繫。他們甚至在一個世紀後他們宗教上的競爭者，道明會和方濟各會教士在教皇面前指控耶穌會時，利用了這種神奇的友誼。

Dominicans and Franciscans were jealous because Jesuits had managed to convert many more Chinese than they had ever been able to do. Instead of recognizing that people like Ricci were more successful because they learned Chinese language and customs and brought the Chinese valuable scientific knowledge, they started to accuse them of tolerating paganism because Jesuits allowed their converts to continue with the veneration of the ancestors.

道明會和方濟各會教士嫉妒耶穌會能在中國鼓動遠比他們多的信徒。他們並沒有承認利瑪竇這些人學了中文和中國習俗，而且給中國帶去寶貴科學知識的功績，反而指控他們對異教的縱容，因為耶穌會教士允許中國人繼續用傳統方式祭拜先祖。

During the tribunal in Rome in 1705, Jesuits tried to save their position by referring to the Jews. They stated that while Jews do not recognize Jesus Christ, they are obviously monotheist. Thus, the fact that Chinese Jews practice the veneration of the ancestors, shows that it is okay for Chinese Christians to keep the same custom. However, the Pope Clement XI turned his deaf ear to Jesuits. All rites presumed non-Christian were banned and, in response, the Chinese Emperor banned all Christians from China.

在1705年羅馬的特別法庭上，耶穌會教士想辦法通過猶太人來挽回地位。他們聲稱，儘管猶太人不認耶穌基督，他們顯然是一神教。因此，中國猶太人用自己的方法祭拜先祖，說明中國基督徒也可以這麼做。然而，教皇克雷芒十一世對此充耳不聞。所有被認為是不合基督教義的儀式都被禁了，作為回擊，中國皇帝在中國全面禁止了基督教。

As for Kaifeng Jews, they were assimilated. By the 20th century, they even started eating pork.

So, returning to the question, what is something that needs to be said about the Jews?

至於開封猶太人，他們則被同化了。到了20世紀，他們甚至開始吃豬肉。

所以，回到我們的問題上來。猶太人有什麼特別值得說的事情呢？

Even if you are a history nerd, you have probably never heard about Kaifeng Jews. Why? Because there was no genocide, no pogroms, no discrimination of any kind against them. They were free to do what they wanted, to become imperial mandarins if they could pass the exams, without having to abandon their faith. Christians had also enjoyed tolerance in China until the Pope Clement XI decided to become intolerant himself.

即使你是個歷史狂，可能你也從沒聽過開封猶太人。為什麼？因為從沒有過種族屠殺，種族滅絕，沒有過任何針對他們的歧視。他們可以從心所欲，只要通過考試就能成為帝國官員，也不用放棄信仰。基督徒也享受了中國的包容，直到教皇克萊芒十一世自己開始決定不包容。

I guess the story of Kaifeng Jews and their relations both with Chinese and the Jesuits shows us the importance of tolerance.

我覺得開封猶太人的故事和他們和中國人、耶穌會的關係，告訴我們包容的重要性。