The origin of SICNU can be traced back to the National Northeastern University, which was exiled out of Northeast China after the Mukden Incident in 1931 and relocated to Santai in 1938 after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the subsequent Japanese invasion of North China. After the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937–1945) was over, the Northeastern University moved back to its home in Shenyang, but some of its faculties and staff remained in Sichuan, and in 1946, they established Northern Sichuan Workers and Peasants College on the same Santai campus.
SICNU's origins can be traced back to the National Northeastern University, which was exiled from Northeast China after the Mukden Incident of 1931 and relocated to Santai in 1938 following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and Japanese invasion of North China. After World War II (1937–1945), the university returned to Shenyang, but some faculty and staff remained in Sichuan, where they established Northern Sichuan Workers and Peasants College on the Santai campus.