OBJECTIVE：To investigate the internal mechanism of Schisandra sphenanthera and Schisandra chinensis in determining quality by color （“color discrimination grading ”）of medicinal materials ，and to construct a qualitative identification model based on color quantization value. METHODS ：HPLC method was used to determine the contents of 6 active components from 39 batches of samples. The colorimeter was used to determine 3-color spatial value [lightness value （ΔL＊），red-green value （Δa＊），yellow-blue value （Δb＊）]. SPSS 24.0 statistical software was used to analyze the correlation between the contents of 6 active components and 3-color spatial values. Principal component analysis （PCA）was performed by using SIMCA-P 14.1 software. RESULTS：The linear range of schizandrol A ，schizandrol B ，schisandrin A ，schisandrin B ，schisandrin C ，schisantherin A were 0.204 8-2.560 0，0.049 3-0.616 3，0.098 4- 1.230 0，0.046 3-0.578 8，0.010 6-0.132 0，0.100 0-1.500 0 μg（r＞0.999 0）；RSDs of precision ，stability（12 h）and repeatability tests were all less than 3％. The recoveries were 98.14％-101.53％（RSD＝1.08％， n＝6），97.16％-101.05％（RSD＝1.54％，n＝6），98.29％-101.41％（RSD＝1.29％，n＝6），97.17％-100.36％（RSD＝1.20％，n＝ 6），97.32％-102.43％（RSD＝1.77％，n＝6）and 98.02％-100.40％（RSD＝0.84％，n＝6），respectively. Among 39 batches of components were 3.25-7.39，0.96-1.98，0.46-4.74，1.62-2.60， 0.06-0.58，0.48-6.11 mg/g，respectively. Average S. chinensis was － 80.79-－ 70.54， average Δ a ＊ was qq.com # 通 2.54-5.34，average Δb＊ was 5.20-12.83，average ΔE＊ was 71.13-81.23；average ΔL＊ of S. sphe nanthera was －75.90- －69.16，average Δa＊ was 3.77-7.82，average Δb＊ was 8.59-17.23，average ΔE＊ was 69.99-77.92. The results of relationship analysis showed that the contents of schizandrol A ，schizandrol B ，schisandrin A ，schisandrin B and schisantherin A were significantly correlated with ΔL＊，Δa＊，ΔE＊（P＜0.01），with no significant correlation with Δb＊（P＞0.05）. There was a negative correlation of the content of schisandrin C with ΔL＊ and Δa＊（P＜0.05），and there was no significant correlation with Δb＊ and ΔE＊ （P＞0.05）. Results of PCA showed that accumulative variance contribution rate of primary 2 main components was 89.8％，and S. sphenanthera and S. chinensis could be identified significantly. CONCLUSIONS ：The content of schizandrol A in S. chinensis is high relatively ，and content of schisantherin A in S. sphenanthera is high relatively. Schizandrol A ，schizandrol B and schisandrin B were not detected in S. sphenanthera . The 3-color spatial value of S. sphenanthera and S. chinensis are different ，that is ，the brightness of S. chinensis is small and the color is slant black ，while the color of S. sphenanthera is slant red and yellow. The contents of active components of S. sphenanthera and S. chinensis is related to the surface 3-color spatial values ，that is ，the darker the color is ，the weaker the red degree is ，and the higher the contents of schizandrol A ，schizandrol B ，schisandrin B and schisandrin C are ；the brighter the surface color is ，the stronger the red degree is ，and the higher the contents of schisandrin A and schisantherin A are. The established content determination method is precise and stable ，and can be used for the content determination of S. sphenanthera and S. chinensis . The color qualitative identification model can be used for the identification of S. sphenanthera and S. chinensis .