KWEIYANG, ARCHDIOCESE of. – The civil province of Kweichow, in south-central China, detached from the diocese of Nanchino on 15 October 1696 and erected as an apostolic vicariate, shortly thereafter (in 1715) came under the administration of the apostolic vicar of Szechwan, until it was reconstituted as the apostolic vicariate of Kweichow on 27 March 1846 and entrusted to the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris. On 3 December 1924 it took its name from K., the provincial capital and residence of the Ordinary. On 16 February 1922 it ceded 9 civil subprefectures to form, together with 4 other civil subprefectures of Kwangsi (v. NANNING), ANLUNG (v.), and on 23 March 1932 it ceded a further 27 civil subprefectures to establish the sui iuris Shihtsien (v.). With the establishment of the episcopal hierarchy in China on 11 April 1946, K. was elevated to a metropolitan archdiocese, with the diocese of Lanlung as its suffragan.
It has an area of 94,000 sq. km. As of 30 June 1947, out of a total population of approximately 7,000,000 inhabitants, there were 24,702 Catholics and 453 catechumens. Besides the archbishop, there were 49 Chinese and 16 foreign priests. In the preparatory seminary 25 students were enrolled; in the minor seminary, 35; and in the major seminary, 15 philosophers and 13 theologians. The auxiliary personnel included 49 Chinese and 17 foreign sisters, as well as a number of teachers and baptizers. The territory, divided into 5 districts, had 10 churches and 74 oratories, 31 primary stations and 410 secondary stations. Its institutions consisted of 1 hospital with 40 beds, 2 orphanages with 37 residents, 2 medical dispensaries, 2 secondary schools and 34 primary schools with a total of 3,354 pupils.
Christianity, introduced by immigrants from Szechwan in the 17th century, made little progress until very late because of the persecutions that continued almost uninterruptedly until 1896. Many Christians were killed or suffered imprisonment and exile; among them, mention should be made of the martyrs beatified in 1900 and 1905. Between 1896 and 1911 the mission made rapid progress, but in 1926–27 it again succumbed to other scourges, including famine and revolutionary disturbances.