Objective The Yuzhou area is the most highly studied Upper Paleozoic coal-bearing strata of the southern part of North China Block， which has abundant sedimentological and stratigraphic paleontological research basis； however， owing to the lack of absolute chronology data， the division of chronostratigraphy， and regional large-scale stratigraphic correlation are affected. Methods In this study， laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry （LA-ICP-MS） was applied to date the U-Pb age of detrital zircon of two mudstone samples near the stratigraphic boundary of the Taiyuan Formation-Shanxi Formation and Xiashihezi Formation-Shangshihezi Formation in the Yuzhou area and determine their maximum depositional ages. Results （1） The 40 detrital zircons from the bottom sample of the Shanxi Formation （ZK1006-5） constitute a continuous young component spectrum ranging from 283-343 Ma， with the youngest single zircon age （YSG age） is 283±9.4 Ma. The 18 detrital zircons from the bottom sample of the Shangshihezi Formation （ZK2387-3） constitute a continuous young component spectrum ranging from 257-299 Ma， with the YSG age is 257±6.8 Ma. They represent the maximum deposition age of the sample strata， indicating that the deposition time is no earlier than 283±9.4 Ma and 257±6.8 Ma. （2） The deposition of the Shanxi Formation and Shangshihezi Formation in the Yuzhou area began in Kungurian and Wuchiapingian， respectively， which is consistent with regional biostratigraphic data. （3） The Upper Paleozoic coal-bearing strata of the North China Block have a large span of penetrating rock strata， and the overall performance is characterized by inward penetration of the plate edge gradually through the new characteristics. Conclusions Based on the previous studies on volcanic events in the Late Paleozoic basin of the North China Block， the eastern margin of the basin was found to be strongly active in which the same sedimentary period， and the induced magmatism， tectonic activity， biological succession， and transgression may be related to the formation of the ancient continent of Laurisia land at the same time.