Thoma Pereira (Xu Risheng)

Thoma Pereira (1645-1708), a Portuguese, joined the Society of Jesus in 1633 and arrived in Macao in 1672. Later, he went to Beijing and was appointed into the astronomy and calendar department of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) government, responsible for the revision of the calendar and acting as the imperial musician.

In 1689, he acted as the interpreter for the Chinese delegation during the Sino-Russia negotiations on borderline, helping protect China's interests. The treaty signed safeguarded China's sovereignty and his performance won the respect from the emperor.

In 1706, he became the deputy head of the China Parish of the Society of Jesus. Later, he died in Beijing.