CSU was established in April 2000 by merging the former Hunan Medical University (HMU), the former Changsha Railway University (CRU) and the former Central South University of Technology (CSUT). The predecessor of CSUT was Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy founded in 1952 and that of CRU was Central South College of Civil Engineering and Architecture founded in 1953; their main disciplines originate in Mining & Metallurgy and Civil Engineering, two disciplines of Hunan Industrial College established in 1903. The predecessor of HMU was Xiangya Medical College founded in 1914 as one of China’s earliest colleges offering western medicine courses.

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