Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease characterized by airflow limitation, which is not fully reversible, progressive and associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to noxious gases or harmful particles. It mainly involves the lungs, but can also cause systemic (or extrapulmonary) adverse effects [1]. In Chinese medicine, it mostly belongs to the categories of “cough”, “asthma”, “lung distension”, and “phlegm”. Modern medicine has established standardized diagnosis and methods and a graded treatment system based on lung function. The main purpose of treatment is to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life, but there is a lack of drugs that target the cause of the disease and stop its development. In recent years, many scholars have used the combination of Chinese and Western medicine to treat COPD, and have achieved better results. The pathogenesis of COPD is not fully understood, but it is generally believed that COPD is characterized by chronic inflammation of the airways, lung parenchyma and pulmonary vasculature, with an increase in alveolar macrophages, T lymphocytes and neutrophils in different parts of the lung. Activated inflammatory cells release a variety of mediators, including leukotriene B4 ( LTB4), IL-8, TNF-α and other mediators, leading to oxidative/antioxidative imbalance and protease/antiprotease imbalance in the lung, which disrupt the structure of the lung and promote inflammatory responses in a variety of inflammatory cells [2]. After many years of research, the main different types of inflammatory cells involved in the airway inflammatory response in COPD are macrophages, T lymphocytes and neutrophils [3]. In recent years, other researchers have found that eosinophils, airway epithelial and vascular endothelial cells, and dendritic cells [4] also have an important role in the pathogenesis of COPD, but their specific mechanisms need further study. There is also increasing data proving that COPD is a polygenic genetic disease [5], and the αl-antitrypsin (αl-AT) gene has been affirmed to be closely associated with COPD pathogenesis. It is also believed that COPD is an autoimmune disease caused by smoking. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a mixed disease of deficiency and actuality, with the acute phase being dominated by the standard actuality and the stable phase being dominated by the positive deficiency. The underlying pathogenesis is the repeated invasion of external evil, damage to the airway, abnormal suction and descent; long-term deficiency of lung, spleen and kidney qi, deficiency of qi, phlegm and blood stasis, resulting in deficiency of heart qi and deficiency of heart yang, resulting in wheezing and life-threatening. According to the Diagnostic Criteria for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Chinese Medicine (2011 edition) [6], the symptoms of COPD are classified into nine basic symptoms (cold-drink, phlegm-heat, phlegm-damp, blood-stasis, lung qi deficiency, lung yin deficiency, spleen qi deficiency, kidney qi deficiency, kidney yin deficiency), deficiency symptoms (lung qi deficiency, lung spleen qi deficiency, lung-kidney qi deficiency, lung-kidney qi-yin deficiency), and actual symptoms (wind-cold attack on lung, external cold and internal (wind-cold attacking the lung, external cold and internal drink, phlegm-heat congestion of the lung, phlegm clouding the lung, and phlegm clouding the orifices), and the concurrent evidence (blood stasis). Among them, the basic evidence can appear alone, but often in a compound form. Traditional Chinese medicine mainly relies on the practitioner’s experience to classify the stable stage of COPD into four types: lung qi deficiency evidence, lung and spleen deficiency evidence, lung and kidney deficiency evidence, and lung, spleen, and kidney deficiency evidence by collecting information from the four diagnoses of looking, smelling, asking, and cutting. Chen Hanyue [7] et al. found that the evolution of the lung function classification in the stable phase of COPD was consistent with the transformation pattern of the Chinese medical evidence of pulmonary qi deficiency → pulmonary spleen deficiency → pulmonary kidney deficiency → pulmonary spleen and kidney deficiency, all of which were consistent with the progressive relationship of disease severity. In the acute exacerbation phase of COPD, on the basis of the deficiency of the three organs of the lung, spleen and kidney, the patient’s condition is aggravated by the external evil, and the external evil, phlegm, phlegm-heat, water-drink and stagnant blood are combined with the deficiency of lung, spleen and kidney qi and yang, which is a complex situation. The situation is complex. Some studies have shown that the main types of evidence in the acute exacerbation period, in order of frequency, are: blood stasis evidence, phlegm-heat-containing lung evidence, surface-cold-lung-heat evidence, phlegm-dampness-blocking lung evidence, wind-heat-invading lung evidence, and water-logging heart-lung evidence; combined with deficiency evidence such as lung qi deficiency, spleen qi deficiency, kidney yang deficiency, and kidney yin deficiency evidence [8]. Recent studies on the etiology of COPD have focused on phlegm, stasis, and deficiency, with phlegm and stasis being both important pathological products produced during the disease process and important pathological factors leading to the occurrence and development of the disease, and deficiency being the internal cause of the disease[9] . 3. Treatment Modern studies have found that lung function continues to decline even in stable COPD patients, and no drugs are currently available to stop the decline. Patients with moderate-to-severe COPD have an average of 1 to 1.75 acute exacerbations per person per year, and 75% of patients return to their pre-acute exacerbation status only 35 d after the acute exacerbation. Therefore, it is especially important for COPD patients to emphasize the treatment of the stabilization period to reduce acute exacerbations. 3.1 Western medical treatment of COPD in the stable phase is generally treated with β2-adrenergic agonists, anticholinergics, bronchodilators such as theophyllines or expectorants, glucocorticoids, and long-term home oxygen therapy. Due to progressive development of irreversible airway obstruction, COPD patients suffer from chronic hypoxia and carbon dioxide retention. Long-term oxygen therapy is considered to be one of the most effective treatments for COPD, especially in remission, increasing tissue feeding capacity, correcting hypoxemia, and slowing the deterioration of lung function [10].During acute exacerbations of COPD, pharmacological treatment with bronchodilators, low-flow oxygen, antibiotics, glucocorticoids, and expectorants is generally used [11], combined with controlled oxygen therapy and mechanical ventilation. With the in-depth research on the pathogenesis of COPD, there are more and more therapeutic drugs, and the results of recent large-scale randomized trials suggest that pharmacological treatment has the potential to reverse the decline in lung function in COPD. 3.2 Chinese medicine treatment Chinese medicine treats COPD by clinical diagnosis and typing, and treats the deficiency of the root cause and the symptoms of the disease with the balance of supporting the root cause and eliminating the evil. In the acute stage, the principle of “treating the symptoms of COPD with urgency” is followed, and the main treatment methods are: invigorating blood and resolving phlegm, clearing the lung and resolving phlegm, ventilating the internal organs, warming the Yang and benefiting the Qi. In the stable stage, the main treatment method is to support and tonify the deficiency, mainly from the three organs of lung, spleen and kidney [12]. Following TCM evidence-based treatment, Wu Yan-song et al. found that thermosensitive moxibustion treatment had better efficacy on cough, coughing and wheezing in acute exacerbation of COPD. Wang Ling used the meridian-following flash jar method, which led to improvement of respiratory symptoms in patients in remission [13]. 3.3 Combination of Chinese and Western medicine In recent years, more and more studies have found that the combination of Chinese and Western medicine is more effective in the treatment of COPD; during the acute exacerbation of COPD, Western medicine has the advantage of faster symptom relief but shorter maintenance time and more side effects; although Chinese medicine is slow in improving symptoms, it has fewer adverse effects and can be used to treat specific causes and symptoms. The combination of Chinese and Western medicine can take advantage of each other’s strengths, both in terms of fast action and evidence-based treatment for specific causes and symptoms [14]. Wang Yanli [15] added Danhong injection to conventional Western medicine treatment to effectively improve blood circulation, alleviate clinical symptoms, and improve ventilation in patients with COPD during acute exacerbation. It has also been shown that Western medicine treatment with Mulberry Bark soup can enhance anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and anti-cough and asthma, which is beneficial to the improvement of patients’ lung function [16-17]. In addition to the combination of TCM tonics treatment, Jia Tiezhuang [18] et al. found that suppression of asthma approach prick with western medicine also better improved clinical symptoms, reduced peripheral airway resistance, and improved ventilatory function during acute exacerbation of COPD. Similarly, in the stable phase of COPD, Yang Hong [19] gave three different types of patients with lung qi deficiency, spleen yang deficiency, and kidney yang deficiency on the basis of conventional Western medicine treatment with corresponding Chinese herbal tonics, and used statistical software to process and analyze the results to conclude that the combination of Chinese and Western medicine is effective in treating the stable phase of COPD and has certain advantages over Western medicine treatment alone. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death in the world. It has the characteristics of high pathogenicity and high mortality. It has become an important public health problem at present. In recent years, the research on the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the molecular level in Western medicine, or clinical typing in Chinese medicine, as well as the treatment of Chinese medicine, Western medicine, and the combination of Chinese and Western medicine have made promising progress. At the same time, the research on the pathogenesis of COPD at the Western medical level and the clinical typing of Chinese medicine has laid the foundation for the treatment of COPD. At present, Western medicine treatment methods have been gradually refined, and research has gradually advanced to the molecular and genetic levels, and standardized treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine treatments such as treatment of the untreated disease and external treatment of Chinese medicine are becoming more and more acceptable to patients, and the combination of Chinese and Western medicine is gradually becoming the new direction of COPD treatment, as it is supported by evidence-based medicine.