Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF) is a chronic progressive disease with a short survival time after diagnosis, the current treatment effect of Western medicine is not good, and the price of lung transplantation is high, so there is an urgent need to find new, safe and effective treatments. Animal experiments are an important means to verify the mechanism of action of drugs, and reasonable animal models of IPF are particularly important for IPF experimental research. At present, BLM is commonly used to induce IPF models. Traditional Chinese medicine has the advantages of multiple therapeutic targets and few adverse reactions, and is gradually gaining attention in the treatment of IPF. It is the central content of the current experimental research to verify the specific targets and mechanisms of TCM in the treatment of IPF by intervening in animal models of IPF with traditional Chinese medicine. In this paper, the selection of animal models of IPF, the induction methods and establishment process of the models, the evaluation methods of the models and the intervention effects of traditional Chinese medicine on the models were reviewed, and the best modeling methods of animal models of IPF and the current status of traditional Chinese medicine treatment were summarized, in order to provide a basis for the scientific research and clinical treatment of IPF.