Rivers and numerous biological species are closely intertwined through food chains，material cycles，energy flows and hydrological cycles，forming a mutually coupled life support system that exerts great ecological and social benefits. In recent years，with the over-exploitation of hydro-energy resources by humans，river ecosystems have been damaged or even degraded to different degrees，so restoring and maintaining healthy river ecosystems has become a recognized river management goal. Based on an extensive review of relevant literature at home and abroad，the scope of application and problems of the main methods of river health evaluation are compared and summarized，the characteristics and laws of index system construction and index weight assignment are systematically summarized，the development trend of river health evaluation is proposed. It also focuses on five aspects，including hydrological water resources，physical structure，water quality，aquatic life，and social service functions，and proposes river restoration and management recommendations in order to provid references for the improvement of the ecological environment of rivers in China.