Kaifeng Portrait: Li Chen

 

Earth Market Street, 1910

We know a great deal about Rabbi Li Chen, especially when compared to the dozens of other Kaifeng Jews who we know only by name.  After the Flood of 1642, the stone inscription tells us that water logged Torah scrolls were brought to "Li Chen, the head of the religion, and Manla Li Cheng-hsien, were invited to collate and examine them."  Rabbi Chen survived the flood and was able to collate the water damaged scrolls to produce one useable copy. 

Leslie has quite a bit to say about Li Chen in his work The Chinese Hebrew Memorial Book.

On page xxiv: "Le Chen was the Chang-chiao 'Leader of the Religion' and the only Shalichim (Representatives) names in the Memorial Book and Hebrew-Persian Colophons  were of the Li family."

Here he is reminding us the the Li Clan traditionally provided the community the most rabbis.  Later in the text, on page 172, Leslie identifies him in the Memorial Book as Rabbi Jeremiah, the Scribe, the Teacher, the Representative.  Rabbi Li is named in the 1663 stone, and possibly mentioned in a gazette.