ABSTRACT
A growing and potentially fruitful area of comparative philosophical and social inquiry relates to the study of the respective Jewish and Chinese Diasporas.
Both Jewish and Chinese identities are a subject of sensitivity and interest. Both are going through transitions. The meaning of being Jewish in an era of secularism, modernity and universalism, against the backdrop of the state of Israel, is part of the contemporary Jewish question. The quest for a Chinese identity, as Harvard Yenching Professor Tu Wei-ming describes, “has undergone major interpretive phases in recent decades and is now entering a new era of critical self reflection”.1 Both deal with many of the same issues albeit in different ways, and it is worth understanding and comparing both with a mind that their respective experiences can inform each other.
