HANGCHOW, ARCHDIOCESE of. — The civil province of Chekiang, in east-central China, until 14 August 1838 formed part, together with the provinces of Kiangsi and Fokien, of the apostolic vicariate of Fokien (v. FOOCHOW); on that date two distinct vicariates were established: that of Fokien and that of Chekiang and Kiangsi. Fokien remained with the Friars Preachers, whereas Chekiang and Kiangsi was entrusted to the Lazarists.
On 27 March 1846 the Lazarist mission too was divided, giving rise to two distinct vicariates: of Chekiang and of Kiangsi. On 10 May 1910 Chekiang was further divided into the apostolic vicariates of Western Chekiang and Eastern Chekiang. On 3 December 1924 the former took the name of apostolic vicariate of H., the latter that of apostolic vicariate of Ningpo. Since then H. underwent no further divisions: only in June 1940 did it cede the district of Kinhwa Lishui (v.). With the establishment of the episcopal hierarchy in China, on 11 April 1946 H. was raised to an archiepiscopal-metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province of Chekiang, with the suffragan dioceses of Ningpo and Taichow; on 13 May 1948 that of Lishui was added, and on 3 March 1949 that of Yungkia. H. always remained entrusted to the Congregation of the Mission, which sends there religious from the province of Paris.
It has an area of approximately 32,000 sq km. On 30 June 1947 the total population was approximately 6,000,000 inhabitants, of whom 30,000 were Catholics and 2,000 catechumens. The missionary personnel, besides the archbishop, comprised 48 Chinese secular priests and 19 French Lazarists; 3 students of Latin and 2 philosophy students were studying for this archdiocese at the Seminary of Ningpo. There were 115 sisters, 94 of them Chinese. Among the institutions were 2 orphanages with 400 residents; 3 hospitals with 50 beds; 22 medical dispensaries, which during the 1946–47 year had provided 2,680,353 consultations; and 4 workshops. The 3 secondary schools had 669 pupils, and the 22 elementary schools 2,779 pupils. Earlier statistics reported a fairly large number of catechists, teachers, and baptizers, 2 physicians, and 13 nurses.
At the time of the preaching of the Nestorians (7th century), there were several thousand Christians in H., who were subsequently massacred in the 8th century. Under the former Franciscan mission H. was one of the suffragan sees of the archdiocese of Khambaliq, later destroyed under the Yuan dynasty. The Cathedral was built through the generosity of an Armenian lady, and another church by Bishop Andrea da Perugia. Blessed Odorico da Pordenone brought to H., from the East Indies, the relics of Blessed Nicola da Tolentino. In the 16th century Christianity returned to Chekiang through the work of Leone Ly and Michele Yang, Chinese men of letters baptized by Fr. Matteo Ricci. The Jesuits founded several residences in the city and province (1610–80). Worthy of mention are Fathers de Rocha, Trigault, Froes, Cattaneo, Ribeiro, Martini, Diaz, Verbiest, and Intorcetta, nearly all of whom died and were buried in H., in the still-existing crypt of the «Ta Fang Tsin» cemetery. The mission underwent severe persecutions in 1691, renewed under the emperor Yong Tcheng (it was then that the church built by Fr. Martini in 1661 was converted into a pagoda, and it could be recovered only in 1860); likewise in 1790 and in the following century, especially between 1858 and 1864. In 1858 (when the apostolic vicariate of Chekiang and Kiangsi was established) only a few groups of faithful remained: H., Taofupang (Kiashing), Chuchow, and Ningpo.