Rho, the son of a jurist, entered the
Society of Jesus at the age of twenty. While later proficient in mathematics, he was a poor student initially. Following his
ordination in
Rome by
Cardinal Bellarmine, he sailed for the
Far East in 1617 with forty-four companions. After a brief stay in
Goa, he proceeded to
Macao. During
the siege of that city by
Dutch forces in 1622, he was attributed by Jesuit sources to be the one who fired a cannon shot that landed on a barrel of gunpowder in the midst of the Dutch formation, which turned the tide of the battle and saved the city from the attack. This service opened China to him. Rho rapidly acquired knowledge of the
Chinese language, and in 1631, he was summoned to Beijing by the emperor to work on reforming the
Chinese calendar. Together with
Johann Adam Schall von Bell, he occupied himself on this task until the end of his life seven years later, in 1638. Numerous Chinese officials attended his funeral. Rho left works relative to the correction of the Chinese calendar and other
astronomical and
theological questions. He was buried in the Jesuits'
Zhalan Cemetery in Beijing. ==References==