I corresponded with a scholar who specializes in the Kaifeng Jews back in 2010. What follows is a selection from one of the letters I sent them. It explains my own thoughts on the community's early life in China:

[Recipient's name]

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I am sure there has to be more mentions of Jews in China in other records. Perhaps these allusions have been confused with Muslims or other religious groups. S.D. Goitein said there has

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In my two-part paper on the Kaifeng Jews (here and here), I mentioned three stone inscriptions that gave different times for the Jews settlement in China. The 1489 stone cites the Song Dynasty (10th-13th c. CE), the 1512 stone cites the Han Dynasty (2nd c. BCE-2nd c. CE), and the 1663 (side A) stone cites the Zhou Dynasty (11th-3rd c. BCE). Well, it turns out that there are two oral traditions separate...