Objective:To analyze the rules of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for treating diabetes based on the National Patent Database.Methods:In the patent search and analysis platform of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, search the invention patents of the TCM compounds for treating diabetes during January 1,2016-December 31,2020. The Ancient and Modern Medical Records Cloud Platform (V2.3.5) was used to conduct the statistics of Chinese materia medica frequency, the nature and meridian entry, and the analysis of association rules. The cluster analysis and factor analysis were carried out with the SPSS 25.0.Results:A total of 490 TCM compound patents were included, which involve 791 kinds of Chinese materia medica. For each patent, the number of the Chinese materia medica types was rough 13-14 in average. Remarkably, thirty kinds of Chinese materia medica with high frequencies were obtained, where tonic Chinese materia medica accounted for the largest number, followed by the heat-clearing Chinese materia medica. Among these Chinese materia medica the categories of nature are mainly flat, cold and slightly cold, while the flavors are mostly sweet, bitter and pungent, which mainly belongs to the three meridians of lung, kidney and spleen. As for the results of statistical analysis, the association rule analysis indicated that there were 17 effective kinds of Chinese materia medica pairs, such as Rhizoma Dioscoreae-Astragalus Membranaceus and Radix Rehmanniae Recen-Astragalus Membranaceus. Seven Chinese materia medica groups were derived by the cluster analysis, and 11 common factors were extracted through factor analysis. Conclusions:The TCM compounds for treating diabetes are based on clearing heat and moisturizing dryness, nourishing yin and fluid, supplemented by invigorating spleen and removing dampness, dispelling phlegm and dissolving blood stasis, purging fire and detoxification. Notably, in clinical application, phlegm, blood stasis, heat toxin and other pathological products are supposed to be the focus, must identifying the both symptoms and root causes.