Abstract:[Purposes] The trend and sudden change identification of precipitation series in the source region of the Yangtze River are carried out, which provides a theoretical basis for the ecological protection of wetlands and water resources development and utilization in the source region of the Yangtze River. [Methods] Taking 8 representative meteorological stations in the source region of the Yangtze River as the research object, namely Qumalai, Qingshuihe, Yushu, Nangqian, Zhiduo, Zaduo, Tuotuohe and Wudaoliang, based on the meteorological data from 1961 to 2020, using linear tendency estimation, sliding average, Mann-Kendall test, sliding T test and other methods to identify and analyze the change characteristics of precipitation series in the source region of the Yangtze River. [Findings] 1) From 1961 to 2020, the precipitation series in the source region of the Yangtze River shows an upward trend, with an increase rate of 0.809 mm·a -1. 2) The precipitation in spring and winter shows a significant increasing trend, while the increasing trend in summer and autumn is not obvious. 3) When the subsequence was 5, the precipitation sequence in the source region of the Yangtze River was abruptly changed in 1970. When the subsequence was 7, it abruptly mutated in 1997 and 1998, changing from a downward to an upward trend. 4) When the subsequence was 5, the precipitation sequences of the eight research meteorological stations in the source region of the Yangtze River all had mutation points from 1961 to 2020. When the subsequence was 7, only the precipitation sequences of Qumalai, Qingshuihe, Zhiduo, Tuotuohe and Wudaoliang have mutation points during the above 60 years. [Conclusions] From 1961 to 2020, the total amount of precipitation in the source region of the Yangtze River increased, and the climate change prevention work about the source region of the Yangtze River urgently needs to be strengthened.