Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is applied in various forms, such as decoction pieces, raw powder, extract, and patent Chinese medicine, etc. Controlling exogenous microbial contamination, ensuring the safety and effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine, and selecting the appropriate sterilization technology are the key factors regarding its use. In this study, the literature on sterilization of TCM published from 2001 to 2021 was retrieved from CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and Web of Science. Subsequently, visualization analysis software named VOSviewer and CiteSpace were used to analyze the application status and trend in TCM sterilization methods in the past 20 years. After screening was performed, 322 studies were included. The journal that published the highest number of studies on TCM sterilization was Electromechanical Information. The author's cooperative network analysis found that the Chinese medicine sterilization field mainly formed the China Institute for Food and Drug Control and Guangzhou Institute for Drug Control and other core research teams. Keywords in the literature show that the research on TCM sterilization of traditional Chinese medicine mainly focuses on irradiation, microwave, preparation process, active ingredients, drying, fingerprint, etc. The advantages and disadvantages of different sterilization technologies and their suitable scopes, combined with the future development trend in TCM sterilization, were comprehensively discussed for in-depth analysis, to provide a reference for researchers in selecting appropriate sterilization methods. To further promote the scientific development of TCM sterilization, the authors propose that TCM sterilization should be closely combined with technology, equipment, and policy in the future to facilitate rapid modernization of TCM.