Chen county, Linwu prefecture, Bi prefecture, and Lei county were established during the Qin Dynasty (221—207 BC).

In the year 113 BC, Guiyang Prefecture had 11 counties under its jurisdiction, namely Chen, Linwu, Nanping, Bian, Leiyang, Guiyang, Yangshan, Yinshan, Qujiang, Hankuang, and Zhenyang. In the year 9 AD when Wang Mang came to the throne, Guiyang Prefecture was renamed Nanping prefecture. The counties under its jurisdiction were renamed accordingly: Chen county was renamed Xuanfeng; Linwu was renamed Dawu; Bian was renamed Bianping; Qujiang was renamed Chulu; Zhenyang was renamed Jiwu. Meanwhile the seat of the principal county was relocated to Leiyang (which was renamed Nan Pingting). In the year 35, the seat of the principal county was again relocated back to Chen county, both the prefecture and the county taking back their original names. In the year 136, Hanning County, separated from Chen County, took Yinshan County under its jurisdiction.

In the year 252, the county of Hanning was renamed Yan'an. In the year 265, the southern counties, namely, Qujiang, Guiyang, Yangshan, Hankuang, and Zhenyang, were incorporated into Shixing prefecture whereas the remaining six counties were under the jurisdiction of Guiyang prefecture, which was governed by Jiao province. (See 'the Table of the Establishment History of Chenzhou District')

In the year 280, Yang'an County was renamed Jinning. In the year 315, Taokan divided Chen county into two prefectures, one of which was called Pingyang prefecture governing Pingyang county. In the year 359, part of Jinning County was segmented to establish Rucheng County.

In the year 507, Chen County was established but was cancelled shortly after. In the meantime, Leiyang County was under the jurisdiction of Xiangdong. In the year 560, Luyang prefecture governing Luyang County was established out of Rucheng County of Guiyang prefecture, thus this region was divided into three prefectures.

In the year 589, the three prefectures were incorporated into Chenzhou and Pingyang and Bian County were incorporated into Chen County. In the year 607, Nanping was incorporated into Linwu county, and Jinning County was renamed Jin Xing. In the year 617, the southern part of Chenzhou County was separated to establish Yizhang County, and the western part was also separated to re-establish Pingyang County.

In the year 621, Nanping County was re-established as well. In the year 627, Luyang County was renamed Yichang. In the year 672, Jingxing County was renamed Zixing. In the year 692, the southern part of Yizhang was separated to establish Gaoping County. In the year 725, the northern part of Chenzhou was separated to establish Anling County. At this stage, there were altogether nine counties under the jurisdiction of Guiyang prefecture. In the year 735, Guiyang prefecture was renamed Chenzhou. Meanwhile Gaoping County was incorporated into Yizhang and the seat of Yizhang county government was relocated to where Gaoping was. In the year 742, the region was first named Chenzhou Guiyang Prefecture; Anling County was renamed Gaoting and in August Nanping County was renamed Lanshan.  In the year 758, the seat of Chenzhou government was relocated to Pingyang County. In the year 804, Guiyang administration was set up at Pingyang, whose major function was to collect copper for coinage. In the year 820, the seat of Chenzhou government was relocated back to Chen County.

In the year 925, Yichang County was renamed Chenyi. In the year 936, Chenzhou was renamed Dunzhou, Chen County was renamed Dunhua, and Zixing county was reduced to Zixing village under the jurisdiction of Dunhua county. Pingyang County came under the jurisdiction of Guiyang administration. In the year 939, Linwu County also came under the jurisdiction of Guiyang administration. In the year 950, Chenzhou and Chen County restored their original names and Zixing was restored as a county but was renamed Tai county.

In the year 963, Chenzhou military town (the same administrative level as prefecture) was established. In the year 976, Tai county was incorporated into Chen County; Chenyi County was renamed Guiyang and Yizhang County was renamed Yizhang(the first character is different from its old name). In the year 1005, Lanshan County came under the jurisdiction of Guiyang administration. In the year 1019, Pingyang County again came under the jurisdiction of Guiyang administration. In the year 1073, Gaoting County was renamed Yongxing. In the year 1133, Guiyang administration was upgraded to Guiyang military town. In the year 1140, Linwu County again came under the jurisdiction of Guiyang military town. In the year 1209, two townships of Guiyang County, namely Zixing and Chengshui, were separated to establish Zixing County under the jurisdiction of Chenzhou military town. In 1211, two townships of Guiyang County, namely Lingling and Yicheng, were separated to establish Guidong County. At this stage, six counties were under the jurisdiction of Chenzhou military town. In 1229, Zixing County was renamed Xingning and the seat of county government was relocated to Guan Zihao.

In 1276, Chen County was renamed Chenyang.

In 1368, Lanshan County came again under the jurisdiction of Chenzhou Prefecture, which altogether governed seven counties. Guiyang prefecture governs Changning and Leiyang sub-prefectures and Pingyang and Linwu counties. The next year, Lanshan came again under the jurisdiction of Guiyang Prefecture and Changning and Leiyang Prefectures were reduced back to counties, under the jurisdiction of Hengzhou Prefecture. In 1376, Guiyang Prefecture was abolished. Pingyang, Linwu and Lanshan counties then came under the jurisdiction of Hengzhou Prefecture. During the same period, Chenzhou was elevated from a prefecture to a city directly under the jurisdiction of the province and Chenyang County was incorporated into Chenzhou, which altogether governs five counties. In 1380, Pingyang County was elevated to Guiyang Sub-prefecture, which still governed two counties and came under jurisdiction of Hengzhou Prefecture. In 1639, He Cangbao, the southwestern part of Guiyang Sub-prefecture, was separated to establish Jiahe County, which also included Bali Township separated from Linwu County.

In 1678, Guiyang County was renamed Yichang and Guiyang sub-prefecture was renamed Nanping. However, the next year, both places restored their original names. In 1732, Guiyang sub-prefecture was elevated to a city directly under the jurisdiction of the province, which means it enjoyed the same administrative status as Chenzhou city also directly under the jurisdiction of the province.

In 1912, the administrative system was changed again. Prefectures and sub-prefectures were abolished while sub-provinces and counties were established. In Feburary 1019, Guiyang County was renamed Rucheng. In September, Chenzhou city was renamed Chen county and Guiyang city was renamed Guiyang county. In January 1914, it was renamed again as Zixing County. In 1922, the administrative system was again changed to another two-tier one, i.e. provincial and county level.

On November 25, Chen county special administrative area was established. In November 1950, it was renamed Chenzhou special administrative area. In August 1958, Chen County was established as Chenzhou city. In November 1959, it was elevated to a county-level city. On July 18, 1960, Chen county special administrative area was renamed Chenzhou special administrative area. During June and July in 1961, the original establishment was restored and Zixing County was separated to establish Dongjiang city. However, Dongjiang city was abolished in December 1962 and Lanshan and Xintian were incorporated into Lingling district. On May 20th, 1963, Chenzhou city was abolished too and a county-level town Chen County remained. On March 8, 1967, the special administrative area was renamed district. In December 1977, Chenzhou city was restored. In May 1983, Leiyang County was incorporated into Hengyang city. In December 1984, Zixing County was elevated to the city level. By 1988, Chenzhou district governs under its jurisdiction two cities, 39 towns, 209 townships (including five townships of ethnic minorities), five sub-district offices, 2950 villages, 130 residents' committees and 30387 village groups.