Zuoying was established in the mid-seventeenth century as a military fortress, known as Old Fengshan (鳳山, also Old Fongshan).

The Spring and Autumn Pavilions, Dragon and Tiger Pagodas and Confucius Temple dot its shoreline.

The district consists of Jinxue, Weixi, Dingbei, Zhongbei, Zhongnan, Miaotung, Miaobei, Weinan, Weibei, Bingshan, Xianghe, Yongqing, Juguang, Guanghui, Gequn, Mingjian, Dingxi, Shenghou, Shengxi, Shengnan, Chengnan, Lutung, Bubei, Bunan, Beixi, Beibei, Beitung, Haisheng, Chongshi, Zizhu, Guomao, Guohui, Guofeng, Xinxia, Xinshang, Xinzhong, Xinguang, Caigong and Fushan Village.

The Republic of China Marine Corps host their training program for their Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit (ARP) at that location.

The villages were first populated by soldiers of the Kuomintang who came from different provinces of mainland China and gathered here after losing the Chinese Civil War in 1949.