Xavier Ehrenbert Fridelli (really Friedel) (11 March 1673 – 4 June 1743) was an Austrian Jesuit missionary and cartographer in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

.

Life

Born at Linz

Linz

Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, Fridelli entered the Society of Jesus

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 in 1688 and in 1705 arrived in China. Fridelli was an important contributor to the cartographical survey of the Chinese empire, begun in 1708 and completed in 1718 (according to others, 1715).

Baron Richthofen

Ferdinand von Richthofen

Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen was a German traveller, geographer, and scientist.-Biography:He was born in Carlsruhe, Prussian Silesia, and was educated in Breslau and Berlin. He traveled or studied in the Alps of Tyrol and the Carpathians in Transylvania...

 says this is "the most comprehensive cartographic feat ever performed in so short a space of time (China, Berlin, 1877, I, 661, see 631 sq.). Together with Jean-Baptiste Régis

Jean-Baptiste Régis

Jean-Baptiste Régis was a French Jesuit missionary in imperial China.-Biography and works:He was born at Istres in Provence on 11 June 1663, or 29 January 1664; died at Peking on 24 November 1738...

, Pierre Jartoux, and others, he designed the maps of Chi-li, the Amur

Amur Oblast

Amur Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , situated about east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur and Zeya Rivers. It shares its border with the Sakha Republic in the north, Khabarovsk Krai and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the east, People's Republic of China in the south, and Zabaykalsky...

 district, Khalkas (Mongolia), Sze-ch'wan, Yun-nan, Kwei-chou, and Hu-kwang (Hu-nan and Hu-pe), for which purpose the traversed the whole empire from south to north. At the time of his death, Fridelli had been rector for many years of the Southern or Portuguese church (Nan-t'ang

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing , also known as Nantang to the locals, is a historic Roman Catholic Church located in Beijing, China...

), one of the four Jesuit churches at Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, where he died.