ordained a priest in 1936, and was teaching at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in

1939. He received a PhD in theology in 1941. He was appointed bishop of Tainan in

1961. He served as archbishop of the Taipei Archdiocese in 1966, and was a professor

and rector at "Fu Jen Catholic University" from 1963 to 1993. He opened "Cardinal

Tien hospital" in 1968 and "Cardinal Tien Nursing & Midwife Vocational Senior High

School" in 1971. He succeeded as president of "Fu Jen Catholic University" in 1978.

His academic achievements were remarkable, especially in the areas of law and

philosophy. He was a prolific writer in history, literature, philosophy, and religious

studies, and did not stop writing after his retirement. He died of multiple organ failure at

the age of 93 in 2004 at the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei.