…It convinced him that China might be able to learn something from the West—and in particular, from Jews. This conviction was rooted in his own country's recent resurfacing from a traumatic past. Like many teenagers at the time, Xu was a Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution, one of the zealous youths EFTA01196459 who helped destroy much of China's own heritage. "I participated in the Cultural Revolution. We all went through the Great Leap Forward," Xu said…