 On 6 September 1688 he joined the Society of Jesus and became a member of the German province, whence he went to China in 1707.Here the Kangxi Emperor invited him by personal request to collaborate in the great map and chart work in which the Jesuits, acting under imperial instructions, were then engaged.He laboured with Anne-Marie de Mailla and Jean-Baptiste Régis on the mapping of the provinces of Henan, Jiangnan, Zhejiang and Fujian (cfr.