SINSIANG, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE of. - In the northern part of the province of Honan, in central China.
It was erected on 7 July 1936 with 12 civil Weihwei (v.) and entrusted to the Society of the Divine Word, whose religious had been present there since Aug. 1933.
It has an area of 10,000 sq. km. As of 30 June 1947, out of a total population of approximately 2,000,000 inhabitants, there were 15,671 Catholics; 25 priests, of whom one was Chinese; 2 major seminarians; 3 foreign lay brothers and 3 foreign sisters. Its institutions included 3 hospitals, 4 medical dispensaries, 1 orphanage, 75 elementary schools with 1,500 children, and 2 secondary schools with 317 pupils. Evangelization, begun in 1901 by catechists, was continued from 1904 onward by missionaries, first at Wuchii, then at Yüanwu, Fengkiu and S., and finally on a permanent basis at Hwangching (now Tsinyang), where a large and convenient residence was acquired. The shortage of personnel, which prevented notable development, was remedied by the arrival of the Verbites.