Jilin City No.1 High School was founded in 1907, in the 33rd year of the reign of the Guangxu Emperor.

In 1905 the Qing dynasty abolished the traditional imperial examinations, and decided to reform China's education system based a Western model.

In 1907 several Chinese scholars who had studied overseas, including Sun Shutang, Zhao Mingxin, Nie Shuqing, Ba Yang'a and Wu Yusen, returned to China and wrote a joint letter to the government, proposing the establishment of a modern high school.

In 1931, after Japan occupied Manchuria, Chinese Communist Party agents secretly developed a cell on campus, a student-led patriotic group named the "Society for Mutual Aid" (互濟會).

It remained closed until 1973, when it was allowed to reopen, with a limited curriculum and attendance, due to the presence and influence of some staff on a local revolutionary committee.