HALLERSTEIN, AUGUSTIN VON

Jesuit missionary in China and scientist; b. Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, Aug. 27 (or 2, or 18), 1703; d. Beijing, Oct. 29, 1774. After finishing his theological studies in Austria, he embarked for China from Lisbon in 1736. He was sent immediately to the court at Beijing, where his reputation as a mathematician had preceded him. The young Emperor Quianlong quickly became fond of him, appointing him to the Bureau of Astronomy and Mathematics in 1739. He succeeded to the presidency in 1746, the last Jesuit to hold this post made famous by Johann Adam schall and Ferdinand Verbiest. For more than 30 years Hallerstein was continually busy with the astronomical observations and computations so esteemed by the Chinese and so necessary to draw up their yearly cycle of holidays and feasts. Although he especially, even more than other Jesuit scientists at the court, had to endure the frequent interference and intrigues of jealous court mandarins as well as the indifference and vagaries of the fickle Quianlong, his scientific work was so highly valued that it gained tolerance for the preaching of Christianity by his fellow missionaries throughout the provinces of the empire. Hallerstein engaged in correspondence with the leading scientists of Europe, and was elected to the Royal Society of London as a foreign associate.

Bibliography: l. pfister, Notices biographiques et bibliographiques sur les Jésuites de l'ancienne mission de Chine 1552–1773, 2 v. (Shanghai 1932–34) 2: 753–761. c. testore, c. sommervogel et al., Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus, 11v. (Brussels-Paris 1890–1932) 4:49–52.

[j. h. campana]