Our school has a long history. In order to develop Taiwan's agricultural and forestry resources and relative talents, the Japanese authorities established the "Taiwan Soutokufu School of Agronomy and Forestry" in Taipei in 1919. In 1928, we were merged into the "Taipei Imperial University" (today National Taiwan University), as the affiliated department of agriculture and forestry.
In 1943, we were independent as "Taiwan Soutokufu Taichung School of Agronomy and Forestry" and moved to Dingqiaozitou of Taichung. After World War II, we were renamed "Taiwan Provincial Taichung School of Agronomy and Forestry", and was changed to "Taiwan Provincial College of Agriculture" in 1946. In 1961, we merged with Taipei's School of Law and Business (formerly the Provincial School of Local Administration) and added polytechnic Institute to form the "Taiwan Provincial Chung Hsing University". In 1971, it was restructured into the "National Chung Hsing University" and finally became a comprehensive university with eight colleges including liberal arts, agriculture and natural resources, science, engineering, life sciences, veterinary medicine, management, and law and politics. We may be second to none in Taiwan central. However, there has been no special place to collect and display cultural relics related to the school history for a long time. The Gallery of University History was not established until 2009 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of National Chung Hsing University.
The Gallery of University History is located in the first floor of Huisun Hall with an area of about 120 square meters and costs about 7 million. Due to lack of manpower, gallery was opened only by appointment at the beginning and was not so convenient to visitor. In August of 2011, the University Archives & Special Collections of the library was established and decided to open regularly after strengthening protective measures and replacing some exhibits. Now it is finally done.
Our exhibition zone is shaped as a long strip with the design concept of past hardships. Being in it, it is like walking into a time tunnel to witness the evolution of our school. In the exhibits, first of all, the school signs of the different periods are preserved, including "Taiwan Provincial College of College", "Taiwan Provincial Chung Hsing University", "National Chung Hsing University", and some of them were brought from the scrap merchant, which are extremely difficult to obtain. Secondly, the collection of 3 copies of the graduation albums during the period of Japanese rule is an extremely precious school history artifact. We also introduce past principals, representative plants of our school in different seasons, aerial photos and campus buildings of each period, past student life, and so on. In addition, two early teaching microscopes were displayed, one of which was purchased by the Criminal Police Brigade of the Taiwan Provincial Police Department for US$10,000 in 1959. It assisted the police in investigating major criminal cases such as the murder of a Dongshi girl. In short, all faculty and students of our school must not miss this visit. The Gallery of University History wholeheartedly welcomes you.
