Joseph Hu Ruoshan

Joseph Hu Ruoshan

CM
Joseph Hu Ruoshan; CM
Bishop of Linhai
Native name	胡若山
Church	Catholic Church
Diocese	Diocese of Linhai
In office	30 July 1926 – 28 August 1962
Predecessor	Vicariate erected
Successor	Anthony Xu Ji-wei
Previous post	Titular Bishop of Theodosiopolis in Armenia (1926-1946)
Orders
Ordination	5 June 1909
Consecration	28 October 1926; by Pope Pius XI
Personal details
Born	1881; Zhejiang Province, Great Qing
Died	28 August 1962 (aged 81)

Joseph Hu Ruoshan ( 胡若山) was one of the first six Chinese Catholic bishops of modern times. He lived from 1881 to 1962.

Biography

Hu was born in Zhejiang Province and orphaned at age five.^: 512 Hu was raised by Catholic missionaries.^: 73

Hu joined the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians) at age twenty-five and was ordained at age twenty-eight.^: 73 He taught philosophy and dogmatic theology at the Catholic seminary of Ningbo. He was a consulting theologian for the 1924 Plenary Council of Shanghai.^: 73

In 1926, Hu and five other Chinese priests (Philippus Zhao Huaiyi, Simon Zhu Kaimin, Odoric Cheng Hede, Melchior Sun De-zhen, and Aloysius Chen Guodi) were consecrated in Rome and became the first Chinese Catholic Bishops in modern times.^: 54 The Holy See framed these consecrations as an important moment for indigenizing the Catholic Church.^: 71–73 After leaving Rome, the new bishops toured Italy, France, Belgium, and Holland where crowds of local European Catholics greeted them.^: 73

Hu was the Vicar Apostolic of Taizhou, later the diocese of Linhai.^: 73

He died in 1962.^: 512

References

↑ "Bishop Joseph Hu Ruoshan (Hu Joo-shan, Hu Jo-shan), C.M." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
1 2 Mariani, Paul P. (2014). "The First Six Chinese Bishops of Modern Times: A Study in Church Indigenization". The Catholic Historical Review. 100 (3): 486–513. doi:10.1353/cat.2014.0143. ISSN 1534-0708.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wong, Stephanie M. (2025). Making Catholicism Chinese: the Catholic Church in a modernizing China. New York, NY, United States of America: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-762369-5.

[CatHie-1] "Bishop Joseph Hu Ruoshan (Hu Joo-shan, Hu Jo-shan), C.M." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2026-04-28.

[:1-2] 1 2 Mariani, Paul P. (2014). "The First Six Chinese Bishops of Modern Times: A Study in Church Indigenization". The Catholic Historical Review. 100 (3): 486–513. doi:10.1353/cat.2014.0143. ISSN 1534-0708.

[:0-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wong, Stephanie M. (2025). Making Catholicism Chinese: the Catholic Church in a modernizing China. New York, NY, United States of America: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-762369-5.