Meng Yang, an assistant professor at Peking University in Beijing who is speaking in the Bay Area this week, has carved out a unique space in China’s academic landscape. She teaches the country’s first, and currently only, university-level Yiddish course and leads packed lectures on Jewish civilization, the Holocaust and contemporary antisemitism.
With Chinese interest in Ashkenazi Jewish culture and history growing since Oct. 7, 2023, and the global spike in antisemitism, Yang’s expertise has been in demand.
She learned Yiddish as part of her Ph.D. research on the exile of Jewish refugees in Shanghai during the Holocaust and is regarded as the first person to write and perform a Chinese-Yiddish song. She is a fellow of the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, and her research spans global antisemitism, Holocaust studies, Shanghailanders and Sino–Israeli relations.
Ahead of her Feb. 24 talk at Stanford, Yang spoke with J. about her path into Jewish studies, the surprising realities of teaching about Oct. 7 in China, and why she believes this moment urgently demands cross-cultural dialogue.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What first sparked your interest in Jewish studies?
I began as a German major and pursued my Ph.D. in Germany. I wanted a doctoral topic that combined German studies with something connected to my hometown, since I am from Shanghai, so I chose to research Jewish exile in Shanghai during the Shoah. During my studies, I received a scholarship to attend a two-week Holocaust education program at Yad Vashem for Chinese educators and students. Through my research and the people I met in Israel and Germany, I found myself drawn into Jewish studies.
What motivated you to learn Yiddish?
I got lucky and applied to a summer program at Tel Aviv University and received a full scholarship. I had not planned to study Yiddish. If you weigh the pros and cons of learning it, you might never begin. But at that time, no one in China was studying Yiddish, and there were no courses available. So I thought, “Why not?” The teachers were wonderful, and that experience shaped my academic path.
What was it like teaching the first Yiddish course in China?
I had to apply three times before the university approved it. In the beginning, I had about 30 students. Since Oct. 7, enrollment in my Jewish Civilization course, which is a broader class about Jewish culture, has grown dramatically, up to nearly 800 students each semester. Yiddish is difficult for Chinese students because the letters are completely different from Chinese characters. I use modern materials, like clips from “YidLife Crisis” [a comedy web series] to show that Yiddish is a living language. I find that students are not only interested in the language, but they also want to understand the culture.
How has teaching changed since Oct. 7, 2023?
After Oct. 7, student engagement increased a lot. I also see my classroom as a kind of research space. Some say antisemitism in China must come from the government. But from my teaching experience and student feedback, I see that much of the hostility actually comes from the people. When I lecture about the Israeli hostages, some students immediately ask why I am not speaking more about Gaza. When I screened the documentary “October 8” and asked whether it was the first time they had heard about sexual violence committed on Oct. 7, more than two-thirds of the class said yes. That information had not been widely reported in Chinese media. Some students openly express support for Hamas. That shift reflects how polarized the conversation has become.
What forms does antisemitism take in China?
Almost all classic antisemitic tropes have been localized in Chinese contexts, especially online. Chinese social media platforms operate independently from Western ones, with different algorithms and restricted access to foreign apps. Yet conspiracy theories about Jews, including versions of blood libel, circulate widely. Because China has a very small Jewish population, and Judaism is not recognized as a legal religion in China, most people’s perceptions come from the internet rather than personal contact. That makes misinformation harder to counter.
How do students respond to learning about the Holocaust?
People are generally very interested in the Holocaust. I screen the 1956 documentary “Night and Fog,” and many are shocked by what they see. However, I think Holocaust education worldwide faces challenges. We see that Holocaust education has not prevented the resurgence of antisemitism. That is something scholars must examine more closely.
Why does this work matter now?
My research focuses on Holocaust education, global antisemitism and cross-cultural dialogue. As Elie Wiesel observed, antisemitism did not start with Jews and does not end with Jews. In many societies, hatred of Jews becomes a starting point, and later other groups are targeted as well. What has surprised me is how quickly antisemitism has surged globally after Oct. 7. In a country like China, with almost no Jewish population, antisemitic narratives can still spread online. That makes research and education especially important. For my doctoral research I interviewed Holocaust survivors who had lived in Shanghai. Today, as antisemitism rises again, I sometimes think about those survivors and about the many contributions Jewish communities have made worldwide. That is why dialogue across cultures is so necessary. Education alone may not solve everything, but without it, misunderstanding and hostility only grow. n
