PERLMANN, Saveli Maximovich.

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History of the Jews in China. First edition, first impression, of this study exploring the thousand-year history of Jewish communities in China and calling for the creation of a Jewish state. The author, a scholar who previously worked as a businessman in China, was an early Zionist and also wrote what is widely believed to be the first history of China in Hebrew.As he notes in his opening remarks, Jewish communities have existed in China from perhaps as early as the Han dynasty. The city of Kaifeng, in particular, became a locus of activity, producing unique Jewish communities integrating aspects of Hebrew and Chinese culture. In the 19th century, the growth of semi-colonial foreign concessionary areas, combined with increased Jewish migration eastwards to escape persecution, led to further growth in China's Jewish population, and a Hebrew-language newspaper was founded in Shanghai in 1904.Perlmann's account combines an historical survey with studies of memorial stones erected at Kaifeng from 1164 onward, in order to strengthen the argument for the creation of a modern Jewish nation-state. In his view, the 500 years between 1164 and 1663 were a "process of absorption" that "gradually worked upon the Jews in China till they were doomed completely" (p. 78).Perlmann spent time in China as a fur trader, before relocating to London in the early 20th century. There, he wrote a number of books published by Jewish publishers in the East End. Today, Perlmann is remembered as the gran

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