Cerebral small vessel disease(CSVD)is a slowly progressive cerebrovascular disease caused by structural and functional disorders of small vessels and vascular neural units in the brain,and CSVD imaging markers may be evidence as manifestations of brain aging.Clinically,the onset of CSVD is not limited to individuals in middle-to-old age.Young patients without typical vascular risk factors may also have imaging markers,such as enlarged perivascular space and white matter hyperintensity.The diagnosis and treatment of these cases must be approached seriously.Compared with Western medicine,traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)has an advantage in treating disorders related to emotions,sleep,and cognition in patients with CSVD.Regarding CSVD,there are commonalities between anatomical structures,physiological functions,pathogenic mechanisms,and xuanfu and collateral theories in TCM.We combined the xuanfu and abnormal collateral theory and classified CSVD into three clinical stages:early-stage,dysfunction in xuanfu and stagnation in the qi collaterals;middle-stage,endogenous toxins and damage to the blood vessels;and late-stage,kidney and marrow deficiency and toxins damaging the brain collaterals.Different treatment strategies,such as promoting qi circulation,calming the mind,and dredging collaterals in the early stage;dispelling pathogenic factors and promoting blood circulation in the middle stage;tonifying the kidney and replenishing the marrow and removing toxins from collaterals in the late stage,are applied at different stages to offer novel perspectives on TCM treatment for CSVD.