Simply put, gardening is to take gardening as a way of keeping in good health. Although the research on human health in horticulture originated in Europe and America, the reclusive culture of literati in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, including many poems of Tao Yuanming, actually laid the embryonic form of human health research in horticulture.

The predecessor of Yangzhou University can be traced back to 1902. Tongzhou Normal School was founded by Mr. Zhang Jian, a famous industrialist and educator in modern China. It is a century-old prestigious school with a long history and outstanding reputation. The school's predecessor was the former Jiangsu Agricultural College and Yangzhou Normal College, which was developed on the basis of the agricultural science of Nantong College and the literature and history department of Tongzhou Normal College. The other four universities involved in the merger also have an independent history of more than 60 years.