Objective To explore the rules of using Chinese herbal medicines and core prescriptions for chronic kidney disease（CKD）through analyzing TCM prescriptions for CKD patients with complex network technology and point-to-point mutual information.Methods The prescriptions made by Prof.ZHANG Ning for 860 cases CKD patients in their first visits from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2016 in Wangjing Hospital of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences were collected.The names of Chinese herbal medicines were regularized, and then induced into Liquorice software to create relational data with homogeneous networks with complex network and point mutual information analysis.Results The drugs used with higher frequency and intensity were Astragali Radix, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix Et Rhizoma, Coicis Semen, Poria, Pyrrosiae Folium, Bupleuri Radix, liquor processed Rhei Radix Et Rhizoma, Pheretima, Angelicae Sinensis Radix, Paeoniae Radix Alba, parched wild jujube seed, Cibotii Rhizoma, Imperatae Rhizoma, and Rehmanniae Radix., and the core prescriptions were Astragali Radix, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix Et Rhizoma, Coicis Semen, Poria, Pyrrosiae Folium, Bupleuri Radix, liquor processed Rhei Radix Et Rhizoma, Pheretima, Angelicae Sinensis Radix, Paeoniae Radix Alba, and Cibotii Rhizoma.The basic principles of treatment were nourishing qi and blood, promoting blood circulation to dispel blood stasis and clearing damp and purging the turbid.Conclusion Spleen and kidney deficiency and the mutual blockage of turbidity and stasis are the pathogenesis of CKD.The treatment principle of reinforcing the root and purging the turbid is consistent with the clinical thinking of Prof.ZHANG which can be used in the whole the treatment of CKD.Complex network analysis and point mutual information analysis could be applied for summarizing the rules of using herbal medicines and making core precipitations.