Teodoro Pedrini, C.M. (1671-1746)

Teodorico Pedrini was an Italian priest, missionary, musician and composer. Pedrini was born in Fermo, Italy. He joined the Vincentian Fathers in 1698 and was ordained shortly thereafter. In 1710, he was sent to China as a missionary. He served there until his death. Besides being a priest, Pedrini was also a musician. This competence helped him first to be admitted to the Court of the Chinese emperors then to gain the favour of three successive Emperors, ruling during his lifetime Kangxi (1662-1722), Yongzheng (1722-1735) and Qianlong (1735-1796). As musician, Pedrini was the teacher of three sons of the emperor Kangxi, constructed musical instruments and mended those present at court. In addition, carrying on with the work of his predecessor the Portuguese Jesuit Tomas Pereira, he completed the text of the first treatise on Western Music Theory ever published in China, the LülüZhengyi-Xubian, which was later included in the huge encyclopedical work called Siku Quanshu (1781). With this work Pedrini asserted himself as one of the main figures in the introduction of the western music in China.
(From Wikipedia)