To explore the medication rule of Chinese medicine treatment, and to provide references for clinical prescription and standardized treatment of Chinese medicine for diabetes. Methods: The articles on CNKI from 1995 to 2015 in Chinese medicine treatment of diabetes were performed systematic cluster analysis to find out the medicine type, single frequency, belong to the medicinal properties of herbs. Results: The treatment of diabetes had the most commonly used herbs with the effect of deficiency tonifying, heat clearing, blood-activating and stasis-resolving, exterior-releasing, damp-draining, astringent, iver-pacifying wind-extinguishing, regulating qi, resolving dampness, wind-damp-dispelling and so on. The most commonly used deficiency tonifying herbs are Milkvetch Root, Common Yam Rhizome, Chinese Angelica; The most commonly used heat clearing herbs are Rehmannia Root, Figwort Root, Golden Thread; The most commonly used blood-activating and stasis-resolving herbs are Salvia Root, Sichuan Lovage Rhizome, Safflower. The most common properties of the herbs are plain, sweet, bitter and pungent. The channel tropisms are spleen, liver, lung, kidney, heart and stomach. Conclusion: The treatment of diabetes often includes reinforcing healthy qi and eliminating pathogen. The herbs are usually used for deficiency tonifying, heat clearing, blood-activating and stasis-resolving etc.