Whampoa Military Academy, established by Sun Yat-sen, one of China's most revered revolutionaries, was officially opened on May 1, 1924, with the first lessons beginning on June 16 of the same year.

The inauguration took place on Changzhou Island, which lies offshore of Whampoa Dock in Guangzhou, from which the academy took its name. Although both Communists and Nationalists attended the school in its early days, the establishment came under the control of the Nationalists in 1927.

After the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in 1937, Whampoa was forced to relocate many times, first moving to Nanjing in Jiangsu province, then Wuhan in Hubei and later Chengdu in Sichuan. Following the defeat of the Nationalists in China's civil war (1946-49), the academy moved to Taiwan, where it has remained ever since.