TAMING, DIOCESE of. — At the southern extremity of Hopeh province, in northern China.
It was established as an apostolic prefecture on 11 March 1935, with 7 civil Sienhsien (v.) and was entrusted to the Society of Jesus, which sends religious from the Hungarian regular province there for the apostolic work. On 10 July 1947 it was elevated to a diocese, suffragan of Peking.
It has an area of 8640 sq km. On 30 June 1947, out of a total population of approx. 2,000,000 inhabitants, there were 42,409 Catholics; 34 priests, of whom 9 were Chinese; 8 major seminarians; 21 lay brothers, of whom 10 were Chinese; and 30 sisters, of whom 13 were indigenous. Among its institutions were 6 medicine dispensaries, 1 orphanage, 1 home for the elderly, and 32 schools with 1008 pupils.
The evangelization of T., carried out by the Jesuits of Sienhsien, began in the second half of the last century: in 1857 there were neither Christian communities nor Christians; in 1861 there were 6, increasing to 12 in 1864 and forming a Christian community. In 1880 the Christian communities numbered 23 and the faithful 399; by 1910 they had risen respectively to 408 and 8732, and by 1934 to 920 and 36,002, the year before the establishment of T.