Chenggong was originally an Amis settlement from which came the Hokkien name Moalaulau (Chinese: 麻荖漏; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Môa-láu-lāu).

After 1945, to avoid confusion with Singang Township of Chiayi County and to distinguish it from Tainan's Sinckan (now called Sinshih), it was changed to Chenggong, which commemorates the eponymous general Koxinga (Cheng Ch'eng-kung) who expelled the Dutch from Taiwan.

The township has 13,193 inhabitants and its total area is 144.9938 km².

[2] Along with most of the rest of Taitung County, Chenggong has a Tropical rainforest climate.

The majority inhabitants of the township are the Amis people which makes up to 53% of the population.