Abstract： Objective： To analyzed the distribution characteristics rules of syndromes and syndrome elements of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Methods： The GERD-related literatures in the four databases of China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)， Wanfang， China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP) and China Biology Medicine disc (CBM) were retrieved， and the clinical research literatures covering the content of syndrome differentiation and treatment were screened for the information on syndromes and syndrome elements. The distribution rules of syndromes and syndrome elements of GERD and its subtypes reflux esophagitis (RE) and nonerosive reflux disease (NERD) were respectively analyzed. Results：A total of 143 articles and 27 272 cases were included. The cases were from 22 provinces or municipalities in China， Singapore and South Korea， with a male to female ratio of 1∶1.04. The syndrome type of GERD accounting for the most (30.84%) was the syndrome of liver-stomach heat constraint； the stomach was the syndrome element of disease location with the highest proportion (41.45%)； the proportion of fire (heat) was the syndrome element of disease nature with the highest proportion (40.20%). The common syndrome types of RE were syndrome of liver-stomach heat constraint， syndrome of liver-stomach disharmony， spleen-stomach weakness syndrome and syndrome of qi constraint and phlegm obstruction， and they accounted for 79.61% in total； the syndrome elements of disease location were mainly the stomach， liver and spleen， and they accounted for 94.29%.； the syndrome elements of disease nature were mainly fire (heat)， qi stagnation， qi deficiency and phlegm， and they accounted for 80.43%. The distribution of NERD syndrome types was relatively concentrated，the syndrome of liver-stomach heat constraint，syndrome of liver-stomach disharmony，syndrome of middle deficiency with qi counterflow，and syndrome of qi constraint and phlegm obstruction，and they accounted for 87.34%； the main syndrome elements of disease location were the stomach， liver and chest diaphragm (upper energizer)， and they accounted for 94.24%； the syndrome elements of disease nature were mainly fire (heat)， qi stagnation， phlegm and yang deficiency， and they accounted for 90.29%. Conclusion： The main pathological factor of GERD is fire (heat)， and the disease locations are mainly the stomach and liver；compared with NERD，the pathological factors of deficiency in RE are more obvious and for NERD the attention should be paid to the syndrome differentiation and treatment of chest diaphragm (upper energizer).