Abstract： Chronic kidney disease(CKD)is a chronic disease caused by various reasons,with structural damage and dysfunction of the kidney as the primary manifestation,and its progression is progressive and irreversible.Autophagy is a self-stabilizing mechanism that removes senescent cells and damaged cytoplasmic proteins,and dysregulation of autophagy accelerates the progression of kidney disease,which has similar connotations to the theory of balance of yin and yang in traditional Chinese medicine.Therefore,autophagy may be the microcosmic basis for the balance of yin and yang in CKD.In the early stage of CKD,the autophagy level is still stable,and it is appropriate to follow the formula and medication to be regulated;in the middle and late stages,the autophagy level in the kidney is abnormal,and the collaterals are not in harmony,so it is necessary to regulate the collaterals of the kidney and the heart and kidneys to regulate them evenly.It was proved that some Chinese medicine ingredients and compound preparations can protect the kidney by regulating autophagy in recent research.When autophagy is insufficient,the source of fire should be benefited.The products of warming yang and benefiting qi,activating blood circulation,and draining turbidity with pungent warm and bitter flavors should enhance au-tophagy,accelerate the metabolism,and maintain the balance between cell renewal and apoptosis.When the level of autophagy is too high,the balance of autophagy cell renewal and apoptosis should be maintained.When autophagy is excessive,we should"strengthen the main body of water"and use sour,sweet,bitter,and salty products to benefit the kidney and fill in essence,tonify blood,and eliminate stasis to reduce autophagy levels and avoid apoptosis and damage to cells by"nourishing"or"removing stasis and generating new cells",thus delaying CKD.This will prevent cell apoptosis and damage by"nourishing"or"removing stasis and generating new cells",thus slowing the progress of CKD.