Abstract: The Loess Plateau of China served as the cradle for rain-fed agriculture based on millet cultivation during the Neolithic Period. The spatial distribution of human livelihoods in the area changed significantly during the Bronze Age in relation to early trans-Eurasian exchange. However, the transformation that the subsistence landscape underwent in the Loess Plateau from the Zhou to Han Dynasty (1046 BCE–220 CE), a transitional period from kingdoms giving way to empires in China, has not been well understood in the Loess Plateau. To explore this issue, we reviewed and analyzed previously published carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic data obtained from human bones, as well as archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data from the Loess Plateau. Our results suggest that millet cultivation and livestock raising were the major subsistence strategies in the Loess Plateau from the Zhou to Han Dynasty, while the cultivation of wheat, barley and the use of wildlife in human subsistence varied across different periods and regions. In the northern and western parts of the Loess Plateau, human diets changed significantly from the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BCE) to the Warring States Period (476–221 BCE). The proportion of meat in the diet decreased, whereas that of millet increased significantly. Subsequently, human consumption of animal products significantly increased in the Loess Plateau during the Qin-Han dynasties (221 BCE–220 CE). Also during this time, the southeastern part of the Loess Plateau maintained the traditional millet agriculture, and the crop structure became more diversified. Geopolitical change, geographic environment, and climate fluctuations were influential factors that contributed to the spatio-temporal variations of human livelihoods from the Zhou to the Han Dynasty in the Loess Plateau.