n the fall of 2002, I received an invitation
from Mr. Robert Daly, of the Johns
Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and
American Studies, in Nanjing, People’s
Republic of China, to visit for a week’s
time, lecture, and meet with students.
The Hopkins-Nanjing Center, located at
Nanjing University, is one of the leading
places in China for Western scholars to
meet Chinese colleagues. The University,
which is separate from the
Center, is also the home of
our learned colleague,
Professor Xu Xin, foremost
authority on the history of
Chinese Jewry, and his wife,
Kong Defang. Nanjing
University is also the
alma
mater
of HUC-
JIR/Cincinnati graduate
student, Bo Yang.
The principal interest at the
Center is international stud-
ies. The invitation to a scholar focusing on
the Ancient Near East would afford faculty
members and students an opportunity to
contrast an unfamiliar but important disci-
pline of human history in an ancient
landscape and a distant place. Having been
told that “Chinese historians like nothing
better than a narrative involving ‘intrigue,’”
I decided on the lecture topic: “The
Grandeur that was Babylon (625-539
BCE): Culture, Religion and Political
Intrigue in an Ancient Capital.”
At the Nanjing Center, I was welcomed by
American Director, Mr. Daly, and Chinese
Director, Professor Chen, who were most
gracious. I met professors from the University
faculty, as well as students, and visitors –
principally from the U.S., but also from
France, Africa, and elsewhere. Most, but not
all visitors, spoke Chinese – while a few, like
myself, spoke only English, which most
everyone at the Center understood. The lec-
ture was illustrated with slides and a few
artifacts. It was very well attended and heartily
received – and I taught two classes besides.
My time at Nanjing University was
enriched by a week of lively athletics and
other wonderful experiences. One morn-
ing, while setting out for a jog, I noticed
students playing basketball on outdoor
courts near the track. I was invited to join
in and had some fine games during these
days. The students all knew about Houston
Rockets center, Yao Ming.
There was also a small banquet in my
honor, and Professor and Mrs. Xu Xin gra-
ciously extended an invitation to their
home. Moreover, Professor Xu Xin took
time from his busy schedule to take me on
a tour of the city that included historical
sites of exceptional interest: The Ming City
Wall (1368-1644 – the longest city wall
ever built in the world) and the main
Confucian temple and Imperial
Examinations History Museum, where
scholars spent months or years preparing
for their exams.
Following the week in
Nanjing, I flew to Lhasa,
Tibet. After getting me set-
tled in my hotel, my guide
took me to Jokhang Temple,
the central focus of visits for
devout Tibetans. I heard the
famous chanting of the
monks (which does
not
resemble our familiar Torah
trop!) and saw the banner-festooned halls
and rooms.
In following days, we took an excursion to
the fortress-like Potala Palace of the Dalai
Lama, built in the 14
th
century, and went
on tours to the great monasteries of
Drepung and Ganden, massive, citadel-like
ecclesiastical retreats.
There is much to see in Shanghai, one of the
three wealthiest cities of today’s China, but
of major significance to the Jewish traveler
is the “special interest tour” of the old Jewish
neighborhood, with its museum, former
“
Russian” synagogue, and reconstruction of
a typical apartment of a refugee family that
had fled Germany for the safety of China in
the late 1930’s. Outside the museum, when
I paused to take a photo of the building, the
guard, in military uniform, gestured for me
to wait, and after running inside, came out
to pose holding a small Israeli flag!
From HUC- JIR to China: Faculty A
By Dr. David B. Weisberg
Professor of Bible and Semitic
Languages, HUC-JIR/Cincinnati
(
continued on page 32)
I
Kai Feng manuscript: Hayye Sarah, HUC
Ms 953, Klau Library/Cincinnati
Dr. Weisberg on the roof
of The Portula Palace,
Lhasa, Tibet
14
THE CHRONICLE