Michał Piotr Boym, SJ (Chinese: 卜彌格; pinyin: Bǔ Mígé;[1] c. 1612 – 1659) was a Polish Jesuit missionary to China,[2][3] scientist and explorer.

He was an early Western traveller within the Chinese mainland, and the author of numerous works on Asian fauna, flora and geography.

Michał Boym was born in Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine), around 1614, to a well-off family of Hungarian ancestry.

In 1643, after almost a decade of intensive studies in the monasteries of Kraków, Kalisz, Jarosław and Sandomierz, Boym embarked on a voyage to Eastern Asia.

He received letters from Empress dowager Helena and from Pang Achilles, to give to Pope Innocent X, the General of the Jesuit Order,[7] and Cardinal John de Lugo.

Together with a young court official named Andreas Chin (Chinese: 鄭安德肋; pinyin: Zhèng Āndélèi),[8][9][10] Boym embarked on his return voyage to Europe.

They arrived at Goa in May 1651, where they learned that the King of Portugal had already abandoned the cause of the Chinese (Southern Ming) Emperor, and that Boym's mission was seen as a possible threat to future relations with the victorious Manchu.

As the Venetian court was having conflicts with the Jesuits, Boym discarded his habit and dressed up as a Chinese Mandarin, before he arrived in Venice in December of that year.

Although he had managed to cross uncharted waters and unknown lands, his mission there would not be easy, as the political intrigues at the European courts proved to be extremely complicated.

Upon reaching Goa it turned out that Yongli's situation was dire and that the local Portuguese administration, despite direct orders from the monarch, did not want to let Boym travel to Macau.

Boym is best remembered for his works describing the flora, fauna, history, traditions and customs of the countries he travelled through.

He planned to expand it to nine chapters describing China, its customs and political system, as well as Chinese science and inventions.

They also took notice of the correct positions of many Chinese cities previously unknown to the westerners or known only by the semi-fabulous descriptions of Marco Polo.