Abstract: OBJECTIVE to study the progress of target fishing(mainly ligand fishing and target fishing) in the screening of active components in Chinese medicine and make the related summary. METHODS based on the related articles published in recent years, the screening and identification of active components in Chinese medicine by target fishing-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry were reviewed. RESULTS Target fishing was often used to screen different kinds of active ingredients in chinese medicine. this method had the advantages of fast screening, simple equipment, simple operation and good specificity. CONCLUSION target fishing-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry can be used to screen the target substances and identify their structures in the analysis of complex and diverse mixtures of chinese medicine.