Qufu served as the capital of the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. The city wall of the Lu capital surrounded not only the area of today's (Ming-era) walled city, but also a significant territory to the east and north of it.
During the Tang Dynasty and the early days of the Song Dynasty the city was centered around the present-day Temple of Duke Zhou, at the northeastern corner of today's walled city. At 1012, Qufu was renamed to Xianyuan County, and relocated to the new site, some 4 km east of today's walled city, next to the supposed birthplace of the legendary Yellow Emperor and the tomb of his son Shaohao. A temple in honor of the Yellow Emperor was built there; all that remains today are two giant stelae (the Shou Qiu site).
After the conquest of the northern China by the Jurchens, the new Jin Dynasty renamed Xianyuan back to Qufu (in 1142), but the city stayed at its Song location. It was not until the reign of the Jiajing Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1522) that the present-day city wall was built. The site of the city in 1012-1522 is now Jiuxian Village.
In 1948, Qufu played a minor role in the Yanzhou Campaign of the Chinese Civil War.
The artifacts of the historical sites at Qufu suffered extensive damage during the Cultural Revolution when about 200 staff members and students of Beijing Normal University led by Tan Houlan ( 1937–1982), one of the five most powerful student leaders of the Cultural Revolution, came to Qufu and destroyed more than 6000 artifacts in November 1966.
Before the wide adoption of Pinyin, the name of the city (often viewed as a county seat, i.e. Qufu xian) was transcribed in English in a variety of ways, such as Ch'ü-fou-hien, Kio-feu-hien, Kio-fou-hien, Kiu-fu, Kiuh Fow, Keuhfow, Kufow, and Chufou
