It was erected on 7 July 1936 from territory detached from the Apostolic Vicariate of Ichang and entrusted to the Order of Friars Minor, which for missionary work sends thither the religious of the Regular Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in the United States of America. It covers an area of 9,560 sq km. As of 30 June 1948, with a total population of approximately 2,000,000, there were 8,119 Catholics and 793 catechumens, served by 4 Chinese secular priests and 21 American religious priests. Auxiliary personnel included 1 American lay brother, 9 Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (6 Chinese and 3 American), and 16 Chinese tertiary Franciscan sisters; 34 catechists and 84 teachers. The territory, divided into 3 deaneries, had 13 primary stations and 106 secondary ones, with 2 churches and 32 oratories. The works comprised 1 hospital, 7 dispensaries, 1 orphanage, and 1 hospice for the elderly. Elementary schools had 1,027 pupils, 2 middle schools 357, 2 high schools 86, and 16 prayer and elementary schools 437.
The beginnings of missionary apostolate in the territory of Shasi go back to the end of the 17th century through the work of the Jesuit Father Motel; in 1727, Bishop Müllener, C.M., a former student of the Urban College of Propaganda Fide and Apostolic Vicar of Szechwan (1716–42), erected an oratory at Shasi where, it is said, Bishop Maggi, coadjutor to Müllener, had his residence for some years. In 1732 the Chinese priest Andrea Ly settled at Hengtishih, which remains a flourishing Christian community to this day. After the suppression of the Society of Jesus (1773), the Christians of this territory were cared for by Chinese secular priests, former students of the Chinese College of the Holy Family in Naples. After 1900 Christianity made notable progress: by 1935 the faithful numbered about 7,000.