The State of Research into Jewish Music in China

This chapter seems simple and straightforward, its implications are vast and complex. Music is one of the most cogent reflectors of society, and one of the most potent vehicles for cultural identity. Jewish music has always preserved certain idioms peculiar to Jewish practice. Although very little is known about music – whether sacred or secular, vocal or instrumental – in the life of Kaifeng Jewry, a number of scholars and commentators have made brief and somewhat tantalizing observations. Among these figures are Chen Yuan, Joseph Dehergne, Donald Leslie, and William White. Bodily gestures designed to aid intense concentration, and associated with orthodox practices of today, such as shockeling, were clearly well established by the 15th century. The prohibition against the use of "musical" instruments was enforced not only on Sabbaths and Festivals, as in orthodox Jewish communities around the world, but also at weddings and other "semi-religious" ceremonies.