ABSTRACT
[Objective] To understand Chinese scholars in different periods on the different understanding of tongue, for further development of research and provide a theoretical basis. [Method] Access to a large number of ancient books and literature, selection and tongue of related articles, extract and summa-rize the main points. [Result] The ancient understanding of TCM tongue is very knowledgeable, and by the subjective leading generation, does not have the scientific rigour;modern research of Chinese medicine tongue is mainly from the tongue and tongue color, tongue shape and other aspects, the objec-tive diagnosis and analysis system, the research methods of modern TCM tongue with scientific rigor modern Chinese Medicine; from the point of view, different degrees of col aterals and the width of the color purple tongue, sublingual y reflect the progress of the blood stasis degree and disease conditions, different diseases have different characteristics of the tongue. [Conclusion] Research on the development of modern tongue made certain contribution to TCM development.