Commemorative 238 400th Anniversary of the Birth of Johann Adam Schall Von Bell, S.J Commemorative Issue (1992) (B238)

Stamp SN : B238
Stamp Name : Commemorative 238 400th Anniversary of the Birth of Johann Adam Schall Von Bell, S.J Commemorative Issue (1992)
Stamp Cat Standard : Commemorative Stamps
Stamp Cat : Science,Individuals
Issue date : 1992-12-10
Dimension of stamps(mm.) : 40x30
Printer : China Color Printing Co. Inc., R.O.C.
Sheet composition : 10×10
Process : Deep etch offset
Paper : Locally-made mat finished,
Perforation : 11 1/2
Designer : Lee Kuang-chi

Johann Adam Schall von Bell, S. J. (1592-1666) was born in Cologne, Germany. He entered the religious order of the Society of Jesus of the Roman Catholic Church at Rome in 1611. In 1622, during the Ming Dynasty, he came to the China mainland to do missionary work. In 1631 Fr. Schall was ordered to serve in the Department of Astronomy. There he translated works of western science into Chinese. He also worked on the calendar and wrote numerous articles on astronomy. During the five year period between 1629 and 1634, Fr. Schall, under the supervision of Hsu Kuang Chi, made over 140 translations. They were compiled into a book titled 〝The Chung Chen Book of Astronomy.〞 At the beginning of the Ching Dynasty, the name of the book was changed to 〝The New Western Calendar Calculations.〞