Under the
Qing, the area was known as . Together with neighboring
Haifeng and the now separated
Luhe county now carved out from Lufeng, it formed the short-lived
Hailufeng Soviet in 1927. It was later promoted to
county-level city status. The area rose to prominence in the early 21st century as a scene of unrest. Jieshi saw serious inter-village violence over road use in October 2009 and March 2010 and, in September 2011, a
series of protests or riots occurred in Wukan Village over allegations of
Communist Party members unfairly selling farmers' land for development. Fresh protests broke out in December, when one of the village leaders died in the
police custody. The police blocked the roads leading to the village. ==Administration==