Abstract: Current research of red clay is summarized and commented by literature review.The physical and mechanical properties,as well as the performance improvement of red clay are summarized.The difference in the physical and mechanical properties of red clay is due to the individual differences in microstructure.The difficulty in improving the performance of red clay lies in the water sensitivity and heat sensitivity,and the key to improving the performance is to control its moisture content.The research deficiency is that the general adoptability theory and the knowledge system are not established,and the improvement methods and technical exploration should be strengthened.Research on the mechanism of physical-chemical-biological coupling of red clay performance improvement,and the development as well as the application of composite technology are prospected.