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被定义为电磁辐射的爆发，而且被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，这些过程源自活跃区域（AR），其中高磁非势能存在于多种形式中。本综述从观测和理论的角度重点关注产生耀斑的 AR 的形成和演化。我们从对AR和太阳耀斑成因的一般介绍开始，概述了耀斑前状态长期演化过程中的关键观测特征、与耀斑发生相关的磁场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 的描述如下：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高非势能；当磁通出现在表面时，就建立了一个具有大自由磁能和螺旋度的AR，用\(\delta\) -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，过去几十年来，观测仪器和建模能力的改进极大地增进了我们的理解。最后，我们讨论了突出的问题和未来的前景，并进一步拓宽了我们的知识在空间天气预报、历史上的极端事件以及相应的恒星活动方面的可能应用范围。