Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicines for chronic functional constipation. Methods We searched CNKI (1989 to November, 2009), CBM (1989 to November, 2009), VIP (1989 to November, 2009), Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2009), PubMed (1966 to November, 2009) and EMbase (1986 to November, 2009). All randomized and quasi-randomized clinical trials of treating chronic functional constipation with Chinese herbal medicines versus untreated, placebo or western drug groups were included. Data were extracted independently by two reviewers. The methodological quality of trials was evaluated with Cochrane Handbook 5.0.2 criteria. Meta-analyses were conducted by the RevMan 5.0 software. Results Twenty-one trials involving 2 602 patients were included. The Meta-analysis results showed that: Chinese herbal medicines improved both syndromes and colonic transit function of recipients; moreover, it is superior to both gastrointestinal prokinetic agent in effective rate (RR=1.18, 95%CI 1.12 to 1.25), healing rate (RR=1.59, 95%CI 1.35 to 1.88), and cathartic in effective rate (RR=1.18, 95%CI 1.10 to 1.27), healing rate (RR=1.16, 95%CI 1.29 to 2.10). Integration of Chinese herbal medicines and gastrointestinal prokinetic agent is superior to gastrointestinal prokinetic agent in effective rate (RR=1.21 95%CI 1.09 to 1.34) and healing rate (RR=1.41, 95%CI 1.11 to 1.79). Conclusion Some Chinese herbal medicines may be effective and safe in treating chronic functional constipation, which can not be bly proved at present for lack of studies with high quality.