Zhangqiu is the home to
Longshan Culture that existed around 2900-2100 BC. Longshan Culture is known for its black ceramics and the earliest features to late characterize the Shang civilization,
scapulimancy and
hangtu construction (see
Chengziya Archaeological Site). During the
Spring and Autumn period, Zhangqiu was governed by
State of Qi in the west and
State of Tan in the east, until Tan was conquered by Qi in 684 BCE. Under Qi's rule, there were five estates: Pingying (平陵邑), Ning (寧邑), Tai (臺邑), Cui (崔邑), and Lai (賴邑); among them, estate of Cui later became the origin of Chinese surname
Cui and Korean surname
Choi, as well as the famous
Cui clan of Boling and
Cui clan of Qinghe. It is believed that the local name Zhangqiu or Zhangqiu Hill (章丘山) is named after
Qi general Kuang Zhang (匡章), who led
Battle of Chuisha and buried here; 'qiu' (丘) stands for 'hill, mound', which refers to the tomb of Kuang Zhang. During
Liu Song dynasty in 5th century, Gaotang (高唐) County was set here, and in 596, the name was changed into Zhangqiu to avoid confliation in name with another
Gaotang County (in present day
Liaocheng) in this region. The Zhangqiu County has Mingshui () as its capital, and it was affiliated to Jinan from the 10th century to the end of
Qing dynasty in 1911. In 1735, the writing of Zhangqiu was changed from 章丘 to 章邱, as first "Qiu" (丘) was the name of
Confucius, the change was reverted after the 1950s. After the
Republic of China was founded, all counties changed their status
to be directly administered by the province, like in the United States. Zhangqiu went back to be a part of Jinan in 1953, after the communist established the regime. In August 1992 Zhangqiu County was upgraded into Zhangqiu City. ==Administrative divisions==