[Objective] The spatial and temporal changes in soil nutrients in hilly area of Southern Sichuan basin was investigated in order to provide support for the soil quality management and the agricultural sustainable development.[Methods] Using the data of the second soil survey in 1982 and the soil fertility monitoring data in 2011, the article analyzed spatial and temporal changes in soil nutrients in Changxing township, Yibin City under the SPSS 17.0 and ArcGIS 9.3 platforms.[Results] (1) Among the five soil indicators, the highest coefficient of variation was available phosphorus, the rest indexes varied between 22.18% to 37.03%, indicating a moderate variation.(2) Semivariogram analyses indicated that the nugget/sill of soil nutrients ranged from 25% to 75% in 1982, showing a medium variation. Both of the structural and human factors had influence on it. In 2011, the spatial autocorrelation of each index was weak, and the human factor played a dominant role.(3) The ordinary Kriging interpolation showed that nearly half of the study area have high nitrogen, and the area with total nitrogen and alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen content in high grade and above accounted for 39.26% and 47.94% respectively. Although phosphorus increased slightly, the content of available phosphorus below 5 mg/kg accounted for 52.68% of the area, indicating a serious phosphorus deficiency. The potassium content in the area of an upper-middle class reduced, mostly in the middle and lower levels, or even extremely low levels.[Conclusion] After nearly 30 years of land use, the soil nutrient in the northern area is higher than in the south, with more emphasis on nitrogen and little on phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. More effots should be devoted to limiting inputs of nitrogen and adding phosphorus and potassium in the south of the study area.