In 1979 and 1980, remains from twelve stegosaurian individual animals were recovered from the Dashanpu Quarry near Zigong in Sichuan. They were named and described by Dong Zhiming, Tang Zilu and Zhou Shiwu in 1982. The type species is "Huayangosaurus taibaii". The generic name refers to Huayang, an old name for Sichuan, but at the same time alludes to the "Hua Yang Guo Zhi" from the Jin Dynasty, the oldest known gazetteer from China. The specific name honours the great Chinese poet Li Bai whose courtesy name was Taibai.