Strong solar flares and coronal mass ejections, here defined not only as the bursts of electromagnetic radiation but as the entire process in which magnetic energy is released through magnetic reconnection and plasma instability, emanate from active regions (ARs) in which high magnetic non-potentiality resides in a wide variety of forms. This review focuses on the formation and evolution of flare-productive ARs from both observational and theoretical points of view. Starting from a general introduction of the genesis of ARs and solar flares, we give an overview of the key observational features during the long-term evolution in the pre-flare state, the rapid changes in the magnetic field associated with the flare occurrence, and the physical mechanisms behind these phenomena. Our picture of flare-productive ARs is summarized as follows: subject to the turbulent convection, the rising magnetic flux in the interior deforms into a complex structure and gains high non-potentiality; as the flux appears on the surface, an AR with large free magnetic energy and helicity is built, which is represented by \(\delta \)-sunspots, sheared polarity inversion lines, magnetic flux ropes, etc; the flare occurs when sufficient magnetic energy has accumulated, and the drastic coronal evolution affects magnetic fields even in the photosphere. We show that the improvement of observational instruments and modeling capabilities has significantly advanced our understanding in the last decades. Finally, we discuss the outstanding issues and future perspective and further broaden our scope to the possible applications of our knowledge to space-weather forecasting, extreme events in history, and corresponding stellar activities.

强烈的太阳耀斑和日冕物质抛射，在这里不仅定义为电磁辐射的爆发，而且定义为通过磁重联和等离子体不稳定性释放磁能的整个过程，它们从高磁势以多种形式存在的活动区域 （AR） 发出。本文从观察和理论的角度重点介绍了产生耀斑的 AR 的形成和进化。从对 AR 和太阳耀斑起源的一般介绍开始，我们概述了耀斑前状态长期演变过程中的关键观测特征、与耀斑发生相关的磁场的快速变化以及这些现象背后的物理机制。我们对产生耀斑的 AR 的图片总结如下：在湍流对流的作用下，内部上升的磁通量变形为复杂的结构并获得很高的非电位;当磁通量出现在表面时，构建了一个具有较大自由磁能和螺旋度的 AR，以 \（\delta \） 太阳黑子、剪切极性反转线、磁通绳等表示;当积累了足够的磁能时，就会发生耀斑，剧烈的日冕演化甚至会影响光球层中的磁场。我们表明，在过去几十年中，观测仪器和建模能力的改进极大地促进了我们的理解。最后，我们讨论了悬而未决的问题和未来前景，并进一步扩大了我们的范围，将我们的知识可能应用于空间天气预报、历史上的极端事件和相应的恒星活动。