The Liuyuan Ocean, situated in the Beishan region of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt in northwest China, is one of the critical branches of the Paleo- Asian Ocean. The evolution of the Liuyuan Ocean has been subjected to two divergent views, namely the existence of two stages of rift basins and long- lived subduction. Tectonically,the Liuyuan Ocean is located between the Shibanshan and Shuangyingshan blocks. The sedimentary sequence found in the Shibanshan block, with its provenance shifts, plays an important role in tectonic reconstruction by preserving the paleogeographic patterns of the Liuyuan Ocean. This study focuses on the analysis of sandstone composition and detrital zircon U- Pb- Hf isotopic results from the Upper Paleozoic volcanic- sedimentary sequence in the Dushan area of the Shibanshan block. The analysis of detrital zircons from the Lower- Middle Devonian sample reveals a unimodal spectrum (~415 Ma), suggesting that they originated from magmatic arcs formed by the subduction of the Liuyuan Ocean beneath the Shibanshan block. Detrital zircons from the Upper Carboniferous- Lower Permian exhibit a prominent Mesoproterozoic peak (~1426 Ma), indicating the influx of detritus from the Shuangyingshan and Central Tianshan blocks due to the Liuyuan Ocean contraction. The Lower Permian samples show a significant peak in the Later Carboniferous- Early Permian age distribution, indicating the influence of rifting- induced volcanism. Based on a statistical comparison of published provenance data in the southern Beishan region, a two- stage evolution model is proposed for the Paleozoic evolution of the Liuyuan Ocean. During the Middle Ordovician to Middle Devonian, the Liuyuan Ocean underwent bidirectional subduction beneath the margins of the Dunhuang- Shibanshan and Shuangyingshan blocks.The closure of the Liuyuan Ocean occurred in the Late Devonian, and the Dunhuang- Dushan- Shuangyingshan blocks transitioned into an integrated continental margin environment until the Late Carboniferous. From the Early to Middle Permian, the Liuyuan rift basin gradually developed into a proto- oceanic basin.