 Mingde High School traces its history back to the former "Mingde School" (), founded by educater Hu Yuantan () in 1903, during late Qing dynasty.In 1932, Chiang Kai-shek inspected the school and took pictures with teachers and students, inscribing four Chinese characters "".In February 1938, due to the Second Sino-Japanese War, the school moved to Zeng's Ancestral Temple in Mount Xia () at the junction of Hengshan, Xiangxiang and Xiangtan.