Wednesday, November 14, 2012 • UCLA Faculty Center • 4 PM

Jewish Studies in China：

The New Frontier

Lihong Song （Nanjing University）

Faculty/Student Seminar Series

Jewish Studies is a small but growing field in China. The Glazer Institute of Jewish Studies at Nanjing University, founded in 1992 and renamed in 2007 for Los Angeles philanthropists Diane and Guilford Glazer, offers regular courses on Judaism, Jewish history and culture, and Holocaust studies. What kinds of issues may Chinese scholars in Judaic Studies encounter in a land which is neither Christian nor Muslim, and where Judaism and the animus against it are not deep-seated? The talk will address the current situation and future prospects of Jewish studies in China.

Thursday, November 15, 2012 • 314 Royce Hall • 12 PM

Chinese and Western Perspectives on the Jewish Community of Kaifeng：Towards a Fusion of Horizons

Lihong Song （Nanjing University）

The Jewish past in Kaifeng, China stretches back more than a thousand years. Most scholars agree that a Jewish community existed in Kaifeng, once an important stop on the Silk Road, since the Northern Song Dynasty（960–1127）. Some experts date the arrival of Jews to the Tang Dynasty（618-907）or even earlier. Since the discovery of the community by the Jesuits in the 17th century, it has triggered legions of scholarly activity. Working on the same historical evidence, however, Chinese and western scholars usually drew drastically different conclusions. Reflections on the differences will not only lay bare the orientations of Jewish studies in China, but also shed light on the worlds in which we live.

Faculty/Student Seminar Series

Sponsored by the

UCLA Center for Jewish Studies

Cosponsored by the

UCLA Department of History

UCLA Confucius Institute

UCLA Department of Asian Languages & Cultures

UCLA East Asian Library

UCLA Center for Chinese Studies