AbstractThe onset of uplifting of the Mid‐upper Yangtze area is constrained by the combination of analysis of apatite fission track (AFT) age and modeling of fission track length distribution. The results show that the general trend of onset of uplifting is characterized by decreasing westward in geological time for the different tectonic units in the Mid‐upper Yangtze area. Two episodes of uplifting in Jianghan basin occurred within 157~97 Ma and 10~0 Ma; Xiang'exi‐Wuling area experienced an uplifting in 137~0 Ma; E'xi Yudong area, Chuandong folds, Qianzhong Hights and Dian‐Qian‐Gui areas in 97~0 Ma; Northern Sichuan basin and Chuanzhong areas in 56~0 Ma; and Chuanxi depression and Dianxi region in 23~0 Ma. The major faults of Qiyueshan, Huanyinshan and Longquanshan controlled the boundaries of the onsets of uplifting. The onsets of uplifting for the areas east of Qiyueshan fault, in between Qiyueshan and Huayinshan faults, in between Huayinshan and Longquanshan faults, west of Longquanshan fault are late Jurassic‐early Cretaceous (J3‐K1), late Cretaceous (K2), Paleogene (E) and Neogene (N), respectively.