Schall von Bell was born to noble parents in Cologne[1] or nearby Lüftelberg (today part of Meckenheim) in the Holy Roman Empire.

The next year the group reached the Portuguese trading port of Macau where Schall von Bell spent some time learning Chinese.

[2] Schall von Bell and Giacomo Rho were sent to Beijing in 1630 to continue the work of the deceased Johann Schreck on a reform of the Chinese calendar.

[4] After the Ming-Qing Transition in 1644, Schall von Bell gained access to the newly installed Shunzhi Emperor and became one of his trusted counsellors.

In 1664 he was challenged by Yang Guangxian[5] and the Muslim astronomers,[citation needed] who accused him of planning a rebellion and of having wilfully miscalculated time and place of a funeral and in that way contributed to the death of Consort Donggo.

The secretary to Monsignor Charles-Thomas Maillard De Tournon reported that during the final years of his life, Schall von Bell lived "separated from the other missionaries and removed from obedience to his superiors, in the house given him by the emperor with a woman whom he treated as his wife and who bore him two children."

Crown Prince Sohyeon, first son of King Injo of the Korean Joseon dynasty, was held hostage in Shenyang and later in Beijing.

[6] Schall von Bell gave him books on Western sciences as well as on the Catholic faith that drew the crown prince's interest.

[6] In 1992, Taiwan issued a commemorative stamp for the 400th anniversary of the birth of Schall von Bell, noting "with all his accomplishments his place in Chinese history is secure".