[3] He accompanied Ricci on his first trip to Peking, arriving on 7 September 1598 in hopes of establishing a mission there, but failed to gain an imperial audience and left two months later.
[2][3]: 243 Having returned to Macao, word spread, in 1606, that Cattaneo was plotting to lead a Portuguese invasion and install himself Emperor of China resulting in enslavement of the population.
[4]: 106–7 Cattaneo was in Nanchang in 1606, then established the mission in Shanghai, living there from 1608 to 1610, and finally settling in Hangzhou in 1622 where in 1628 he was to become Nicolas Trigault's confessor.
[1][2][5] On arrival in Macao, Cattaneo attended the Society of Jesus-operated school, established in 1572 and whose first principal had been Antonio Vaz, for Chinese studies.
Pantoja, on orders of Emperor Wanli, subsequently passed on this skill to four eunuchs who were the first members of the imperial court to learn Western music.