Abstract: The concept of ideological and political education is the meta-concept of the discipline of ideological and political education, and its research progress reflects the development of the discipline to a certain extent. Regarding the formation and development of concepts, there is a process of gradual formation of conceptual names at the level of name. At the level of reality, there are different viewpoints such as theory of the origin of primitive society, theory of the origin of class society, and theory of the origin of proletarian political parties. Regarding the connotation and extension of concepts, there are connotations such as external imposition theory, internal transformation theory and interactive double promotion theory, as well as extension understandings such as three-plate theory. Ideological and political education is both related to and different from the concepts of ideological and political work, moral education, and ideological and moral education. In-depth analysis of the relationship between these concepts is helpful to better grasp its connotation and extension. The conceptual research on ideological and political education over the past 40 years has shown some new development trends. Understanding these trends is of great significance for us to grasp the new trends in the development of ideological and political education.