Kaifeng Jews (Chinese Jews)

The Kaifeng Jews are members of a small Jewish community that has existed in Kaifeng, in the Henan province of China, for hundreds of years. Jews in modern China have traditionally called themselves Youtai (Chinese: 犹太; pinyin: Yóutài, from Judah) in Mandarin Chinese which is also the predominant contemporary Chinese language term for Jews in general. However, the community was known by their Han Chinese neighbors as adherents of Tiaojinjiao (Chinese: 挑筋教; pinyin: Tiāojīnjiào), meaning, loosely, the religion which removes the sinew (a reference to kashrut, see also Genesis 32:32).