The Diocese of Yuanling has its origin in the Apostolic Prefecture of Chenzhou, which the Vatican established on March 13, 1925. It belongs to the Ecclesiastical province of Changsha.
The Apostolic Prefecture became the Apostolic Vicariate of Chenzhou on May 28, 1934, and later on December 10, 1934 named the Apostolic Vicariate of Yuanling.
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples made it a diocese on April 11, 1946.
The Diocese of Yuanling has been vacant since 1968. But an Apostolic administrator leads it since 2012.