Abstract: In order to analyze and discuss the research hotspots and development trends of the Yishui school in the field of domestic scholars in the past 10 years, the relevant literature of the Yishui school in CNKI, Wanfang, VIP in the recent 10 years were explored using bibliometrics. The CiteSpace software was applied to draw a knowledge map, and the amount of articles, research teams, issuing organizations, and keywords were visually analyzed and retrieved. The study included 2 397 related documents, 3 649 keywords, 17 keyword clusters; 53 authors published more than 5 articles, and found that Zhang Baochun and Ren Beida, Liu Guirong and Yao Wenxuan, Li Fuping and Dong Shangpu and other scholars were the three major academically influential teams represented mainly focus on Li Dongyuan and Piwei theory. In the past five years, they had begun to pay attention to other Yishui school representatives during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the past two years, we had produced certain results in the context of new coronavirus pneumonia, but the overall analysis of the internal organs identification theory and other researches were slightly insufficient, and the research methods were slightly outdated, suggesting that in the future we should strengthen the research on the traceability of the Yishui school and further improve the inheritance system of the Yishui school.

Key words: Yishui school, research hotspot, Citespace, bibliometric analysis, review