The past four decades have witnessed the birth and development of qualitative research in education in China. The qualitative research in education has undergone the process of conception, birth, and being legitimized. Multiple methods were tried in the research at first, and a relatively fixed tradition of research has been established today. During the process, the qualitative research in education has been supported in every stage of the social development and has been facing all sorts of doubts and challenges. At the same time, the fate of researchers in this field has been closely tied with the social changes and development.