The university was originally founded as Advanced Academy of Agronomy and Forestry in Taihoku Prefecture in 1919. In 1928, the academy became a department affiliated to Taihoku Imperial University. In 1943, the department became an independent entity again and moved to Taichū Prefecture. After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, the school was reorganized and became Taichung Agricultural Junior College. In 1946, it was upgraded to Taichung College of Agriculture. In 1961, it merged with the newly established College of Science and Engineering and College of Law and Business and became Chung Hsing University. In 1971, it became a national university and was named National Chung Hsing University.