Schall, Johann Adam Von
SCHALL, JOHANN ADAM VON (1591-1666), Jesuit missionary in China, born of noble parents in Cologne. At the age of twenty he joined the Society of Jesus, and in 1628 went out to China. Apart from successful missionary work, he became the trusted counsellor of the emperor, was created a mandarin, and held an important post in connexion with the mathematical school. His position enabled him to procure from the emperor permission for the Jesuits to build churches and to preach throughout the country. Proselytes to the number of 100,000 are said to have been obtained within fourteen years. The emperor, however, died in 1661, and Schall's circumstances at once changed. He was imprisoned and condemned to death. The sentence was not carried out, but he died after his release owing to the privations he had endured. A collection of his MS. remains was deposited in the Vatican Library.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
