Professor ZHANG Boli has been in clinical practice for decades and has rich clinical experience.He often emphasizes the use of syndrome differentiation and treatment using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) approach.Under the mentorship of Professor ZHANG Boli and careful observation to the traits and reasoning of his prescription for insomnia, the author summarized Professor ZHANG’s experience of using nourishing yin and descending heat, seeking yin in yang, communication of yin and yang, regulating mental stress and calming the mind; warming spleen and tonifying kidney, soothing liver and strengthening spleen, abundance of source, nourishing the blood and calming the mind; descending liver fire, cholagogic damp-heat, clearing the viscera and descending turbidity, eliminating restlessness and calming the mind; opening with acrid agents and descending with bitter agents, mediation of crux, regulating the spleen and stomach, ascending lucidity and descending turbidity; clearing phlegm and eliminating dampness, invigorating blood circulation and removing stasis in treating insomnia based on clinical differentiation of symptoms and signs.