Under the regulation of normal biological rhythm of human body, sleep and wake states are in dynamic balance, and many neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones, and cytokines act on these two states through different pathways, and problems with any one of them may induce the occurrence of sleep disorders. Insomnia exists not only in terms of decreased sleep quality at night, but also in terms of daytime wakefulness dysfunction. At present, the treatment of chronic primary insomnia mainly involves the use of various types of sedative-hypnotic drugs, but the efficacy is not satisfactory, and many side effects such as reduced efficacy, drug dependence, residual drug effects, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuation of the drug, or even worsening of the disease, may occur as the duration of taking the drug increases, so the treatment of chronic insomnia may face a bottleneck state. The new view is that the pathogenesis of insomnia is sleep-wake transition disorder. It is based on these physiological and pathological characteristics that we can cure insomnia by establishing and restoring patients’ normal circadian rhythm and increasing patients’ slow-wave sleep through bi-directional sleep-wake regulation for patients with chronic primary insomnia.