Note 1 — News from Felipinas, Japon, and other Parts

See account of the founding of the Jesuit missions in China, vol. vi, p. 208. The work begun by Ricci (see vol. xv, p. 178) was continued by Johann Adam Schall von Bell, a German Jesuit, who entered China in 1622, remaining there until his death in 1669. He was a noted astronomer and mathematician, and for his learning and talents was greatly esteemed by the Chinese, especially at the imperial court; the reformation of the Chinese calendar was entrusted to him, and rank and emoluments were conferred upon him. The missions in China were not molested by the authorities after 1622; but the conflicts between the Chinese and Tartars, which ended in the overthrow of the Ming dynasty, greatly injured the work of the missionaries from 1630 to 1660. At the time of our text, the Jesuits were on friendly terms with the authorities, and their work prospered especially in Peking. See account of Catholic missions in China, in Williams’s Middle Kingdom, ii, pp. 290–325; and in Crétineau-Joly’s Hist. Comp. de Jésus, iii, pp. 165–184.