With the development and breakthrough of a series of techniques such as the fault surface morphology measurement, the geochemical element determination and Quaternary dating methods, it becomes possible to study paleo-earthquake using information recorded by the bedrock fault surface. At present, more and more scholars domestic and overseas have carried out a large number of paleo-earthquake studies on bedrock fault surfaces in different professional perspectives and have achieved a series of innovative results. This paper systematically introduces the development history, the current situation and the basic principles and applications of paleo-earthquake study on bedrock fault surface. Moreover, after the thorough discussion of the existing problems in paleo-earthquake research of bedrock fault surface, some suggestions for optimizing the current work are proposed. Finally, on the basis of comparison of the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of various research methods, the prospects and development trends of the bedrock fault paleo-earthquake study are predicted. Lots of weaknesses and limitations in the current study are pointed out in this paper:Firstly, for the method of faullt surface morphology measurement, different morphological expression parameters exist nowadays, however, their advantages and disadvantages are unknown. Secondly, the TCNs method still has a large uncertainty in the age determination of the paleo-earthquake, and the mature cosmogenic nuclides dating methods is too few to meet the dating requirements of different lithologic fault surfaces. Besides, a reliable relationship between relative dating parameters such as morphologicl and physicochemical characteristics and the absolute dating method such as TCNs are not closely established to build a reliable chronology framework. The last but not the least, the lack of mechanical research on the physical and chemical biological processes that the bedrock fault surface experienced before and after the faulting and exposure, and insufficient multi-method comprehensive comparison are also the obstacles for the paleo-earthquake study on bedrock fault surface. It is suggested that in the future study of paleo-earthquakes on bedrock fault surfaces, more attention should be paid to the following aspects:Firstly, strengthen the evaluation of the reliability, applicability and accuracy of the parameters of each morphological model in time and improve the mathematical model of current dating techniques, optimize the mechanism of cosmogenic nuclide production, and introduce new high-precision dating technology timely; Secondly, strive to establish a reliable age framework between relative dating index(X)and absolute dating age(T)regionally; In addition, the morphological structure and mineral compositions of bedrock fault surface are analyzed proactively on the microscopic scale, and the mechanical study is conducted on a series of physical, chemical and biological processes that the fault surface experienced before and after the exposure. At last, comprehensive and comparative research need to be conducted by the multi-disciplinary and multi-method approaches. In conclusion, the paleo-earthquake study on the bedrock fault surface is going through the processes from the qualitative description to the quantitative expression, from the single-disciplinary method to the multi-disciplinary integration, from the exploration of a certain technical index to the comprehensive application of multi-source data technology. The combination of relative dating indicators(X)and absolute dating(T), and putting more emphasis on the mechanical study on the microscopic scale are the development trends of paleo-earthquake study on the bedrock fault surface. The close combination of the paleo-earthquake study of the bedrock fault surface with the traditional method of trenching conducted in the Quaternary sediment region is considered to help more effectively reconstruct a more complete paleo-earthquake sequence and the faulting history on the active fault zone, thus a more reasonable evaluation of the regional seismic hazard can be obtained.