Insulin resistance(IR)is an important pathological feature of type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2MD).Its complicated pathogenesis includes disorder of various kinds of hormones caused by factors such as obesity and inheritance，chronic low inflammatory reaction，and impaired mitochondrial function caused by oxidative stress，energy metabolic disturbance，which can be basically divided into three stages：pre-receptor，receptor and post-receptor stage.It has been proved that herbal compound prescriptions，patent medicine，single types of herb or its active component，and other therapies such as acupuncture can to some extent alleviate IR.Related research from cellular and molecular levels has also become more detailed and deeper.Starting with the pathogenesis of IR described in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)and Western medicine，this paper reviews the mechanism research of TCM intervention of IR in recent years，and offers a reference for relative research in future.