Johann Adam Schall von Bell (1 May 1591 – 15 August 1666) was a German

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and instrument-maker. He spent most of his life as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

in China (where he is remembered as "Tang Ruowang") and became an adviser to the

Shunzhi Emperor The Shunzhi Emperor (15 March 1638 – 5 February 1661), also known by his temple name Emperor Shizu of Qing, personal name Fulin, was the second Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China pro ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

Life

Schall von Bell was born to noble parents in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

or nearby Lüftelberg (today part of

Meckenheim Meckenheim (; ) is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Geographical situation Meckenheim is situated approximately 15 km south-west of Bonn and separated from the German former capital (1949� ...

) in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. After he graduated from the Jesuit Gymnasium in Cologne he moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and studied subjects such as

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

at the Collegium Germanicum. In 1611 he joined the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

and continued his education at the Gregorianum. In 1618 he left for China on a Portuguese ship with a group of missionaries under the lead of

Nicolas Trigault Nicolas Trigault (1577–1628) was a Jesuit, and a missionary in China. He was also known by his latinised name Nicolaus Trigautius or Trigaultius, and his Chinese name Jin Nige (). Life and work Born in Douai (then part of the County of Flanders ...

. The next year the group reached the Portuguese trading port of

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

where Schall von Bell spent some time learning Chinese. He started missionary work inside China in 1622, but allegedly his success was limited. He participated in the defence of Macau from a Dutch invasion in the same year, and personally took a Dutch captain prisoner from that victorious battle. Schall von Bell and

Giacomo Rho Giacomo Rho (1593, Milan – 27 April 1638, Beijing) was an Italian Jesuit missionary in China. There he adopted the Chinese name Luo Yagu (羅雅谷) and was also known by his courtesy name Weishao (味韶). Life Rho, the son of a jurist, e ...

were sent to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in 1630 to continue the work of the deceased

Johann Schreck Johann(es) Schreck, also Terrenz or Terrentius Constantiensis, Deng Yuhan Hanpo 鄧玉函, Deng Zhen Lohan, (1576, Bingen, Baden-Württemberg or Constance – 11 May 1630, Beijing) was a German Jesuit, missionary to China and polymath. He i ...

on a reform of the

Chinese calendar The traditional Chinese calendar, dating back to the Han dynasty, is a lunisolar calendar that blends solar, lunar, and other cycles for social and agricultural purposes. While modern China primarily uses the Gregorian calendar for officia ...

. With

Xu Guangqi Xu Guangqi or Hsü Kuang-ch'i (April 24, 1562– November 8, 1633), also known by his baptismal name Paul or Paul Siu, was a Chinese agronomist, astronomer, mathematician, scholar-bureaucrat, politician, and writer during the late Ming dynasty ...

, he participated in modifying the Chinese calendar and compiling what is known as the

Chongzhen calendar The Chongzhen calendar () or Shixian calendar () was a historical edition of the lunisolar Chinese calendar from 1645 to 1913. It was developed by the lead of Xu Guangqi with the assistance of the Jesuit scholars Johann Schreck and Johann Adam ...

. Named after the

Chongzhen Emperor The Chongzhen Emperor (6 February 1611 – 25 April 1644), personal name Zhu Youjian, courtesy name Deyue,Wang Yuan (王源)，''Ju ye tang wen ji'' (《居業堂文集》), vol. 19. "聞之張景蔚親見烈皇帝神主題御諱字德約，行� ...

, the last emperor of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

, the modified calendar provided more accurate predictions of

eclipses An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

of the sun and the moon. Upon Xu's passing, he held the requiem in his honour and oversaw the process of shipping the body back to his relatives in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. The Ming obtained the services of Father von Bell’s foundry in Beijing, which is said to have produced some five hundred cannon. After the

Ming-Qing Transition The transition from Ming to Qing (or simply the Ming-Qing transition) or the Manchu conquest of China from 1618 to 1683 saw the transition between two major dynasties in Chinese history. It was a decades-long conflict between the emerging Qin ...

in 1644, Schall von Bell gained access to the newly installed

and became one of his trusted counsellors. He was made a

mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

and held an important post in connection with the mathematical school: ''Director of the Imperial Observatory and the Tribunal of Mathematics''. His position enabled him to procure from the emperor permission for the Jesuits to build churches and to preach throughout the country. Thus Schall von Bell is indirectly credited with 500,000 Chinese that are said to have been

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

by Jesuit missionaries within fourteen years, making him a successful missionary. The Shunzhi Emperor died in 1661 and Schall von Bell's position started to erode. In 1664 he was challenged by Yang Guangxian and the Muslim astronomers, who accused him of planning a rebellion and of having wilfully miscalculated time and place of a funeral and in that way contributed to the death of

Consort Donggo Consort Donggo (1639 – 23 September 1660), of the Manchu Plain White Banner Donggo clan, was a consort of the Shunzhi Emperor. She was one year his junior. Life Family background Lady Donggo's personal name was not recorded in history. He ...

. Schall von Bell and other Jesuits,

Ferdinand Verbiest Ferdinand Verbiest, (9 October 1623 – 28 January 1688) was a Flemish Jesuit missionary in China during the Qing dynasty. He was born in Pittem near Tielt in the County of Flanders (now part of Belgium). He is known as Nan Huairen () in Chine ...

included, were imprisoned. Schall von Bell had a stroke in prison. At trial, Verbiest spoke in his defence, but all were condemned to death. However, after an earthquake, the Jesuits were pardoned and only five Chinese Christians working in the astronomical office were executed. The Jesuits were exiled to

. Schall von Bell died within one year of his release. He was buried in the Jesuits' Zhalan Cemetery in Beijing. Yang Guangxian succeeded as the head astronomer at the court. Four years later, however, the young Kangxi Emperor replaced him with Verbiest, and von Bell's honours were fully restored. A collection of Schall von Bell's manuscripts was deposited in the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

Dispute

In 1758, an allegation, which is disputed by most Jesuits and Catholic historians, was made public. The secretary to Monsignor Charles-Thomas Maillard De Tournon reported that during the final years of his life, Schall von Bell lived "separated from the other missionaries and removed from obedience to his superiors, in the house given him by the emperor with a woman whom he treated as his wife and who bore him two children." No evidence was provided and the allegations are even contradicted by contemporaneous witnesses and official Chinese documents. It is stated that if true, the story would almost certainly have been reported by others who sought to discredit Schall von Bell and other Jesuits. In addition, the Jesuit structure would most likely have reported the fact to authorities at higher levels of the order. The 1912 ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' suggests that the source of the rumour was most likely the adoption by Schall von Bell of the son of a former Chinese servant.

Encounter with Prince Sohyeon

Crown Prince Sohyeon Crown Prince Sohyeon (, 5 February 1612 – 21 May 1645) was the first son of King Injo of Joseon Dynasty. Sohyeon was a hostage in the Manchu court at Shenyang, by the terms of the peace treaty concluded after War in 1636. He moved to Be ...

, first son of

King Injo Injo (; 7 December 1595 – 17 June 1649), personal name Yi Jong (), was the 16th monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. He was a grandson of King Seonjo and the eldest son of Prince Jeongwon. He ascended to the throne after leading a ''coup ...

of the Korean

Joseon dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

, was held hostage in

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

and later in Beijing. He was highly interested in Western sciences and visited Schall von Bell. Schall von Bell gave him books on Western sciences as well as on the Catholic faith that drew the crown prince's interest. Prince Sohyeon suddenly died when he entered Korea in 1645, which dissipated Schall von Bell's hope to extend the Jesuit's missionary work into Korea.

Continued cultural relevance in China

In 1992, Taiwan issued a commemorative stamp for the 400th anniversary of the birth of Schall von Bell, noting "with all his accomplishments his place in Chinese history is secure". In 2013, Chinese CCTV published a documentary on Schall von Bell, as part of its series Biographies. At the very end of the film, the commentator noted that the

edited by Schall von Bell is still in use today. China International Communication Center's major biographical series of six Westerners in premodern China also featured Schall von Bell. He is also visible in Chinese soap operas, partly because he was close to

and palace drama is the most popular genre on Chinese TV.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * Yuan jing shuo, Explanation of the Telescope, 1626

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schall Von Bell, Johann Adam 1591 births 1666 deaths 17th-century German Jesuits Jesuit missionaries in China German expatriates in China German Roman Catholic missionaries German missionaries in China 17th-century German astronomers Jesuit scientists