CHAO YNG-CHENG:

Chinese mandarin; flourished about 1653. After the sack of K'ai Fung-Foo, which followed the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1642, the synagogue there was destroyed, and the Jews took refuge on the north side of the river Hoang-Ho, having saved the scrolls, which had been thrown into the water. Ten years later Chao, who was a Jewish mandarin from the province of Chen-Si, was detailed to restore the city, and with the aid of his brother, Yng-teou, induced the Jews to cross the river and take up their old quarters, and rebuild the temple in 1653. One complete scroll of the Law was made up out of the fragments which had been saved from the waters, and other copies were made from this. Chao wrote an account of the saving of the scrolls and the rebuilding of the temple,which was expanded by his brother into a book of ten chapters. A stone stele dated 1663 was afterward erected, giving the details of his action.