Nyingchi County, named in ancient times as Gongbo, has a long history that can be traced to Tibet's prehistoric period. Once called 'Kongpo' (presently named Nyingchi County, Miling County and Kongpo Gyamda County), Nyingchi has a history of over 4,000 years and its culture--called the Nyingchi Culture by historians--is quite distinctive from the mainstream of Tibetan culture. Except for various festivals that are celebrated differently from other Tibetan areas, as one of the places where the Bon religion originated, Nyingchi is also featured by a dense flavor of the indigenous religion of Tibet.

The earliest record of the history of Nyingchi can be found in the inscription on the Demo Stone Board in Gongbo, which is near Guanqug Yumzoinzin of the Moinri area in Nyingchi County, facing southwest. With a 1,200-year history, the inscription is still clear. The royal family of Gongbo started from a prince" and "no one but descendants of the king of Gongbo shall succeed to the throne." This record was originally a treaty of alliance bestowed by the Tibetan king Tride Songtsan (?-815) to the king of Gongbo in the eighth century, and was inscribed on a slab to be commemorated. The king of Gongbo ruled over the area for many years since then.

In the Sagya and Pagmo Zhuba regimes (13th to 16th century), the Nyingchi area became the sphere of influence of the Garma Gagyu Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. In the 17th century, when the Gandain Phodrang regime was founded, Nyingchi was divided by several local chieftains such as Ngapoi, Gyangzoin and Gyailha, and later redivided into Zelha, Jormo, Xoika and Gyainda. Bome remained under the predomination of Garnam Deba, a local chieftain, for a long time. In 1931, the Tibetan government divided Bome into Bodui and Bome clans, and Medog Prefecture was renamed Medog Clan.

In the 1970s, human bones and a tomb group from the Neolithic period were unearthed near the Nyang River. The weights of fishnets and arrowheads among the unearthed relics suggest that these people engaged in fishery as well as agriculture by the Nyang and Yarlung Zangbo rivers, and the ancient lakes in their valleys, which are now dry. Archeologists' research identified these people as a clan of a large tribe or a tribal alliance, and called them Nyingchi Man, whose culture was one representative of southeastern Tibet.