Chronic kidney disease has become a public health problem，while the effective drugs remain to be developed.Classical prescriptions are widely used in the treatment of chronic kidney disease，and those containing Rhei Radix et Rhizoma demonstrate remarkable therapeutic effect，which has important guiding significance for modern medicine.Rhei Radix et Rhizoma is flexibly applied in the prescriptions，probing into the connotation of which is of great significant for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic kidney disease.Chronic kidney disease has complex pathogenesis，which is generally associated with interior deficiency and exterior excess.The exterior excess is mainly due to blood stasis，dampness-heat，and turbid toxin accumulation.It is the product of deficiency and function loss and hinders the qi transformation in zang-fu organs，which makes chronic kidney disease lingering and difficult to be cured.Therefore，the exterior excess is the key to the progression of chronic kidney disease and a difficult point in the treatment of this disease.The healthy qi in zang-fu organs can be hardly restored without the removal of exterior excess.Rhei Radix et Rhizoma is bitter and cold and has the functions of expelling blood stasis and dredging channels，clearing heat and draining dampness，and relaxing bowels and discharging turbidity.The combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma with other Chinese medicines can not only promotes urination and defecation to remove pathogen but also dredge the six fu-organs to restore the qi transformation in zang-fu organs.Starting from the pathogenesis of chronic kidney disease，this paper analyzes the theoretical connotation of the application of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma in the classical prescriptions，so as to guide the application of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma in the clinical treatment of chronic kidney disease.