Abstract:There are two sources of social work in China, one is professional social work introduced from the West in the modern era, and the other is social work in China. Local social work and professional social work correspond to the traditional characteristics of Chinese and Western societies, namely rural society and industrial civilization. This is a dichotomy to discuss the origin of Chinese social work history.In fact, poverty alleviation has become a government responsibility, which is the most basic sign of the rise of social work.Therefore, according to this concept definition, the starting point of local social work can be moved back to the Song Dynasty, so that the historical origin of social work in China and the West can be compared, and then a complete clue about the origin and development of social work in China can be formed.