Basic medical research on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) ophthalmology has made great progress in recent years. This mainly includes the following aspects: the gradual increase in the number and quality of relevant documents; the increase in research institutions and research specialists engaged in TCM
ophthalmology-related basic medical research; and the focus of this research, mainly concentrated on dominant diseases in TCM ophthalmology. However, there are also some challenges. These are mainly reflected in the following aspects: the difficulty of transforming scientific research achievement; the lack of rigorous experimental design and in-depth research on the mechanisms of Chinese medicine; the lack of optimal utilization and integration of resources for research; and the unbalanced development of scientific research levels and resources. To a certain extent, these have hindered the development of basic medical research on TCM ophthalmology. In the future, we need to integrate more superior resources into the dominant diseases and key areas of TCM ophthalmology, and persist in the in-depth research of them; and insist on collaborative innovation and successful cooperation in order to better serve clinical medicine. This is the fundamental starting point and emerging direction for basic medical research on TCM ophthalmology.