Nanning has a history of more than 1,600 years. It was named Yongzhou, or Yong for short in the Tang Dynasty; Yongning prefecture in the Song Dynasty, Yongzhou headquarters in Yuan dynasty; Nanning prefecture in Ming and Qing Dynasties and Nanning county after the revolution of 1911. It did not acquire the present name until 1949.

Nanning, with a glorious tradition, is remembered as a heroic city in the minds of Chinese people. For thousands of years, the city has undergone countless tests in battle. In the old days, Su Jian, head officer of this region in Song Dynasty, once led the army and people throughout Yongzhou City to resist the Vietnamese aggressors, who were waging war against China. In modern times, the famous generals Liu Yongfu and Feng Zicai bravely safeguarded the region against French aggressors in a bid to defend their homeland. Moreover, the city has also witnessed glorious deeds by locals as following: the 1911 Revolution, the May 4th Movement in 1919, dispatching troops to aid the Northern Expeditionary Armies, the founding of the Seventh and Eighth Armies of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, the Baise Uprising paving the way for establishing the Zuojiang and Youjiang revolutionary bases, the Longzhou Uprising and the bloody Kunlunguan Campaign which gave a heavy blow to the Japanese aggressors. The local people have added an illustrious chapter to the history of defending the homeland and pursuing social progress by safeguarding the South Gate of the motherland and participating in the socialist construction of New China.