Rheumatoid arthritis ( RA ) is a complex autoimmune disease characterized by severe joint inflammation, synovial hyperplasia, and cartilage and bone destruction. Based on our understanding of RA and the theories of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, this paper presents the existing RA animal models and analyzes the modeling method , mechanisms, model evaluation indicators, clinical symptom coincidences, advantages and disadvantages, and model applicability to provide a reference for the establishment of better RA animal models.