The college was formerly the Chengnan College founded by Zhang Shu in the Southern Song Dynasty, and was established as Hunan Normal University in 1903. In 1912 and 1914, it was changed to Hunan Public First Normal School and Hunan Provincial First Normal School. After liberation, it was renamed Hunan Provincial First Normal School. In March 2000, the school was upgraded to the General Normal College. In April 2008, it was upgraded to the General Normal College and was renamed Hunan First Normal College.