It is from Guangdong Province. On January 7, 1988, the State Council approved the establishment of Qingyuan City (prefecture level). The municipal party committee and municipal government are located in Qingcheng Town, Qingyuan County. At the same time, Qingyuan County was abolished and two municipal districts (county-level) were established, Qingcheng and Qingjiao (Qingjiao was changed to Qingxin County in 1992). Qingyuan County and Fogang County under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou City and Yingde County under the jurisdiction of Shaoguan City (Yingde County was changed to Yingde City in 1994), Yangshan County, and Lian County (Lian County was changed to Lianxian County in 1994) Prefectures and cities), Liannan Yao Autonomous County, and Lianshan Zhuang and Yao Autonomous County are placed under the jurisdiction of Qingyuan City. On February 28, Qingyuan City was officially established.
Qingyuan City currently governs one district (Qingcheng District), three counties (Qingxin, Fogang, Yangshan), two ethnic autonomous counties (Lianshan, Liannan) and two county-level cities (Lianzhou , Yingde). With a total area of ??19,200 square kilometers, accounting for 1/10 of the area of ??Guangdong Province, it is the prefecture-level city with the largest land area in Guangdong Province. It is located in the north-central part of Guangdong Province, in the middle reaches of the Beijiang River, at the junction of the south side of the Nanling Mountains and the Pearl River Delta. The terrain slopes from northwest to southeast, and is dominated by mountains and hills. It borders Guangzhou and Foshan to the south, Hunan and Guangxi to the north, and Shaoguan and Zhaoqing to the east and west. The current registered population is nearly 3.93 million, of which 320,000 are from ethnic minorities. There are three ethnic autonomous counties in Guangdong Province, and Qingyuan accounts for two: the ethnic minority population accounts for 63% of the total population in the province's ethnic areas.
Qingyuan has a long history with many changes in its organizational structure. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it belonged to Baiyue (Guangdong). After Qin unified the world, it belonged to Nanhai County and Changsha County (including Liejiang County). In the Han Dynasty, there were Guiyang (today's Lianzhou), Zhongsu, Yangshan, Hanjie, Xuyang (today's Yingde), etc. During the Three Kingdoms period, Qingyuan belonged to the State of Wu. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Qingyuan County was established and placed under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou. "This is where the name Qingyuan began" (581 AD). In the Tang Dynasty, Lianshan County was established, and in the Southern Song Dynasty, Yingde Prefecture was established. During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, Fogang Zhili Hall was established. After the founding of New China, it also changed many times. On January 7, 1988, the State Council approved Qingyuan City’s current affiliation.
The Qingyuan area was developed earlier in history, with profound cultural heritage and a large number of talents. For example, the great poets Han Yu and Liu Yuxi of the Tang Dynasty, and the great calligrapher Mi Fu of the Song Dynasty all served in Qingyuan; Prime Minister Liu Zhan of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Ruzhen, the second best person in China's last imperial examination, and Chen Keyu, the famous Northern Expedition general and poet, were natives of Qingyuan. Qingyuan has an elegant cultural landscape, so it has left behind many works of literati. Many historical celebrities such as Zhang Jiuling, Han Yu, and Liu Yuxi in the Tang Dynasty, Su Shi, Mi Fu, Yang Wanli, Hu Quan, and Wen Tianxiang in the Song Dynasty, Guo Kaoji in the Yuan Dynasty, Tang Xianzu and Hai Rui in the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Mei, Weng Fanggang, and Li Tiaoyuan in the Qing Dynasty, etc. The great traces and masterpieces complement each other with the beautiful rivers and mountains of Qingyuan. Yingde and Lianzhou have been designated as "famous historical and cultural cities in Guangdong Province".
Qingyuan in modern times also highlighted its anti-imperialist, anti-feudal and anti-invasion humanistic spirit. During the Anti-Japanese War, Lianzhou (Lian County) became the seat of the Guangdong Provincial Government. The Qingyuan area was one of the guerrilla zones and base areas for the anti-Japanese and opposition to the Kuomintang dictatorship at that time, with a rich revolutionary tradition. During the planned economic system period after the founding of New China, Qingyuan often became a pilot site for various central work and other movements in Guangdong Province or Central and South China (South China). The people of Qingyuan have made great efforts for the economic and social development of Qingyuan area.
The Qingyuan area is the place where Central Plains culture and Lingnan culture, inland culture and ocean culture merge, so its culture has outstanding inclusiveness, openness and creativity. These characteristics have a subtle impact on Qingyuan's current and future social development.