The Ya’an-Mingshan area lies in the southwest corner of the Sichuan Basin, where several linear folds including the Mingdingshan anticline occur. A paleo-channel of the Qingyijiang River was identified in DEM and satellite remote sensing images. It controlled the development of an alluvia-fluvial fan named the Ming-Qiong terrace. The upstream of the paleo-Qingyijiang River was captured, and so the Ming-Qiong terrace stopped building. However, one channel of the paleo-river was preserved, and it was then deformed during the rise of the Mingdingshan anticline. The ESR dating shows that the river capture or piracy event occurred in 312.0±3.0 ka. It is estimated from deformation of that paleo-channel that the rise of the Mingdingshan anticline began in 3.2~3.8 Ma. So the rise rate might be 0.46 mm/a.