HANGZHOU, Archdiocese of. - The civil province of Chekiang, in east-central China, until 14 Aug. 1838 formed part, together with the provinces of Kiangsi and Fukien, of the apostolic vicariate of Fukien (v. Foochow); on that date two separate vicariates were erected: that of Fukien and that of Chekiang and Kiangsi. Fukien remained under the Dominicans, while Chekiang and Kiangsi was entrusted to the Lazarists.
On 27 Mar. 1846 the Lazarist mission was also divided to create 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 Dec. 1924 the former took the name of apostolic vicariate of H., the latter that of apostolic vicariate of Ningpo. From then on H. underwent no further divisions: only in June 1920 did it cede the district of Kinhwa to the apostolic prefecture of Lishui (v.). With the establishment of the episcopal hierarchy in China on 11 Apr. 1946, H. was raised to the rank of metropolitan archiepiscopal see of the ecclesiastical province of Chekiang, with the suffragan dioceses of Ningpo and Taichow, to which were added on 13 May 1948 that of Lishui, and on 3 Mar. 1949 that of Yungkia. H. remained entrusted throughout to the Congregation of the Mission, which sent thither the religious of the Paris province.
It has an area of about 32,000 sq. km. As of 30 June 1947 the total population was about 6,000,000, of whom 30,000 were Catholics and 2,000 catechumens. The missionary personnel, besides the archbishop, numbered 48 Chinese secular priests and 19 French Lazarists; 3 Latin students and 2 philosophers were studying for this archdiocese at the Ningpo Seminary. There were 115 sisters, of whom 94 were Chinese. Among the works were 2 orphanages with 400 inmates; 3 hospitals with 50 beds; 22 medical dispensaries, which in the year 1946-47 had given 2,680,353 consultations; and 4 dispensaries. The 3 middle schools had 669 pupils, the 22 elementary schools 2,779 pupils. Earlier statistics reported a fairly large number of catechists, teachers and baptizers, 2 doctors and 13 nurses.
At the time of the preaching of the Nestorians (7th cent.) there were in H. several thousand Christians, later massacred in the 8th cent. Under the old Franciscan mission H. was one of the suffragan sees of the archdiocese of Cambaluc, later destroyed under the Yuan dynasty. A cathedral was built there through the generosity of an Armenian lady, and another church by Bishop Andrew of Perugia. Bl. Odoric of Pordenone brought to H. from the East Indies the relics of Bl. Nicholas of Tolentino. In the 16th cent. Christianity returned to Chekiang through the efforts of Leone Ly and Michael Yang, Chinese literati baptized by Fr. Matteo Ricci. The Jesuits founded several residences in the city and province (1610-80). Notable among them were Frs. de Rocha, Trigault, Froes, Cattaneo, Ribeiro, Martini, Diaz, Verbist and Intorcetta, almost all of whom died and were buried in H., in the crypt still extant in the “Ta Fang Tsin” cemetery. The mission suffered severe persecutions in 1691, renewed under Emperor Yung Cheng (the church built by Fr. Martini in 1661 was then converted into a pagoda and could be recovered only in 1860); likewise in 1790 and in the following century, especially between 1858 and 1864. In 1838 (when the apostolic vicariate of Chekiang and Kiangsi was erected) only a few small communities of the faithful remained: H., Tsofupang (Kiashing), Chuchow and Ningpo.