1837: Abbe Sionnet (西盎涅)

 

Jews entered China during the Zhou Dynasty

 

In 1837, Abbe Sionnet published a book on the Jews in China, Essai sur les Juifs de la Chine (中国犹太人论), which was overwhelmingly well received. He believed that the Jews arrived in China during the Zhou Dynasty. Upon their arrival, they had a significant impact on the host society, as can be seen by the biblical themes that spread across the Chinese folklores.

 
 

Jehovah was mentioned in Lao-zi’s (老子) writings

Lao-zi 老子 [Zane Archives]

 

Sionnet claimed there was a mention of Jehovah in the writings of Lao-zi (老子, 571–? BCE), founder of Daoism. In Lao-zi’s book, 夷 (Pronunciation in Chinese: Yi) means what can be seen but not comprehended; 希 (Pronunciation in Chinese: Xi) means what can be heard but not understood; 微 (Pronunciation in Chinese: Wei) means what can be touched but not grasped. These three qualities are beyond comprehension, and together, they formed the essence of Daoism — the Way, or the Dao, or the One.

The early Books of the Scriptures even embedded this concept of Daoism. According to Isaiah 6:9, God commanded Isaiah, “Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’”

According to French sinologist Jean-Pierre Abe-Rmusat (雷暮沙1788–1832), these three words together — YiXiWei — was the Chinese word for Jehovah.

There are only two possible explanations for this: (i) the early Israelites conveyed the information to Lao-zi, or (ii) Lao-zi procured a copy of the Hebrew Law.

 
 

Jewish influence on Chinese folklores

 

Sionnet noted other Jewish influences in the Chinese society by looking at the folk tales that dated back to the Zhou Dynasty. For instance, allusions were made to the Paradise, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Great Flood, the Rainbow after the Deluge, the woman changed to a statue and the rock which gave out water when struck by a rod.

The story of creation also carried many similarities between the two ancient civilisations.

 
 

Pangu (盘古) and Nvwa (女娲)

Pangu and Nvwa 盘古和女娲 [Zane Archives]

 

In Chinese legend, Pangu created the world. He emerged from an egg that contained the entire cosmos and was nothing but chaotic darkness in the early days; for the next 18,000 years, the forces of Yin and Yang fought and eventually achieved a balance, during which time Pangu woke up. First, he cracked open the egg, pushed it apart in trying to get out. Then, by sheer strength of his own, he pushed the upper half of the shell containing the Yang into the sky, and it became Heaven while keeping the bottom half of the shell containing the Ying down, and it became the earth. This exercise was so exhausting that Pangu laid down to take a nap and died in his sleep.

As his body decayed, his spine turned into the mountain range, his flesh became the soil, arteries became the canyons, and his blood formed the rivers; his left eye drifted up and became the sun while his right eye became the moon, his hair float upwards and became the starts and his last breath became the clouds.

Nvwa was the creator and considered the mother of all humanity. After the creation of the universe by Pangu, one day, Nvwa went for a walk in the woods; even though she was surrounded by everything beautiful, she felt lonely. She stopped by a riverside and started to make figurines out of clay from the mud. At first, she made animals like chickens and pigs, but she still felt lonely. When she saw her own reflection in the river, she thought, why not make figurines that looked like her, and so she did. The figures started to walk, in the shape of, so she called them 人 (Pronunciation in Chinese: Ren; Meaning: Human).

Nvwa was so pleased with her creation that she kept making them until her hands hurt, so she took a rope, dipped in mud, swung it around so that many small blobs of mud dropped off and became tiny humans. Legend has it that the nobles were descendants of the humans that Nvwa made by hand, and the peasants were descendants of the humans created by the rope.

Nvwa was so pleased with her creation that she kept making them until her hands hurt, so she took a rope, dipped in mud, swung it around so that many small blobs of mud dropped off and became tiny humans. Legend has it that the nobles were descendants of the humans that Nvwa made by hand, and the peasants were descendants of the humans created by the rope.

The story of Nvwa first appeared in Songs of Chu (楚辞) by Qu Yuan (屈原, c. 340—278 BCE) where it was described that she moulded figures from the dirt of the earth, gave them life and ability to have children. The first person to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng (徐整, c. 200), an ancient Chinese scholar during the period of The Three Kingdoms (三国), in his book Three Five Historic Records (三五历记).

There are, of course, many variations to this myth; this is but one of them.

 
 

Genesis and the Chinese creation myth

 

The creation myth between Genesis and the Chinese are strikingly similar:

(i) Before creation, according to Genesis, "The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep;" Chinese mythology tells the cosmos was nothing but chaotic darkness.

(ii) In Genesis, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth;” in Chinese mythology, Pangu separated the Heaven from the earth.

(iii) According to Genesis, “And on the sixth day, God created mankind on his image;” according to Chinese mythology, when Nvwa saw her own reflection in the river, she thought, why not make figurines that looked like her; and so she did.

(iv) Genesis had “He (God) formed a man from the dust of the ground” while Chinese mythology had Nvwa made humans out of river mud. In both cases, humans were created out of particles of earth, a reflection on humans come from the earth and will eventually return to the earth.

(v) Creation was done in an orderly manner. In Genesis, God first created heaven and earth and all living things, and then, He made the first human, Adam. In China's creation myth, the order of events is very similar — first, Pangu separated Heaven from the earth, his body subsequently formed the natural world; then Nvwa made animals followed by humans. In both cases, it was only after all the natural elements were ready were animals and humans created since living creatures could not live without nature.

(vi) In Genesis, God created Adam and Eve to take care of His creation, populate the earth, and have a relationship with Him; in Chinese mythology, humans were created to keep Nvwa company because she felt lonely. Thus, the theme of companionship between the creator and humans is shared.

It is possible that the story of Genesis reached China with the spread of the Abrahamic religions, which would explain the remarkable similarities between the two.