[Objective] To review soil and water conservation technologies in the purple soil area of Southwestern China in order to provide basis for the practices of regional soil and water conservation.[Methods] The practical application of various soil and water conservation technologies in the purple soil area was analyzed through literature review from different aspects.[Results] According to the literature review, the ideas for controlling soil erosion were elaborated, and the main soil and water conservation measures were summarized. The suitable conditions and the technical approaches for different soil and water conservation measures were briefly introduced. Meanwhile, suggestions were proposed to address the issues existed in the current working practices.[Conclusion] The priority of soil erosion control in the purple soil area is small watershed management, which is mainly composed of soil erosion control in sloping farmland and slope runoff regulation engineering. Althoug a variety of engineering, biological and agricultural technical measures were formed in practice, there is still a lack of the relevant technical criterias and reliability assessment for soil and water conservation measures in this area. It is necessary to develop the technical criteria, evaluate the soil erosion control efficiency, and optimize technology configuration in future.