The Longmenshan Tectonic Complex (LSTC), along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, the site of devastating earthquakes such as the magnitude 8.0 (Wenchuan) earthquake on 12 May 2008, preserves an exceptionally complete history of the tectonic evolution of the Yangtze block and its relations to adjacent tectonic units. Due to sequential tectonic superposition and tectonic reactivation, the tectonic nature of the LSTC, and in particularly the older history, has been profoundly debated and many different tectonic models have been proposed. Herein we summarize the current understandings of the major tectonic events that have shaped this important tectonic complex, highlighting problems left to be solved by future work.