Hunan University, situated at the foot of the picturesque Yuelu Mountain and on the west bank of the rippling Xiang River in Changsha, Hunan, is one of the key universities affiliated with the Ministry of Education.

Hunan University traces its origin to Yuelu Academy which was founded in 976 A.D, and regarded as one of the four most prestigious academies of the Song Dynasty. In 1903, Yuelu Academy and Hunan Capital Grand School(evolving from the Shiwu School established in 1897) merged to form Hunan Institute of Higher Learning. It was officially named Hunan University in 1926 and upgraded to National Hunan University in 1937. For more than one thousand years, academic and educational activities have kept uninterrupted here, hence the name “One-Thousand-Year-Old Institution”. During the Southern Song Dynasty (1127—1279) when famous rationalist Confucian philosopher Zhang Shi acted as the chair of Yuelu Academy, the influential “Huxiang School of Thought”, a renowned school in Chinese academic history, was formed and the fine tradition of “Patriotism” and “Practicalism” was adopted. In 1950, at the request of Li Da, a noted philosopher, educator and the first president of Hunan University after the founding of New China, Chairman Mao Zedong inscribed the name of the University. From 1963, the university was affiliated with the Ministry of Mechanical Industry. In 1978, it was listed as a key university of China. In 1998, it was included in the state’s “211 Project ” and became a university affiliated with the Ministry of Education. In April 2000, in the readjustment of the management and structure of institutions of higher education of China, Hunan University and Hunan College of Finance and Economics merged to form a new Hunan University. In 2002, Hunan Computer College was merged into the university.

Hunan University lays great emphasis on international cooperation and exchanges and has established cooperative ties with more than 50 universities from over 20 countries and regions. The university has made great efforts to deepen the reform of its education system and to promote joint education. In recent years, Hunan University has set up more than 10 second-grade colleges in collaboration with local governments and industrial enterprises. The joint undertakings have extended from education to fields like research, development and logistics. The university has for many times been rewarded as an advanced university in the country for Party construction and a model unit in Hunan Province.