The work aims to explore the research situation of optical properties of rare earth polymer to develop its application potential and review the research progress of rare earth polymer from three aspects:luminescence mechanism, preparation and application to provide reference for the subsequent research. Through collection and reading of numerous documents, the research progress of luminescent rare earth polymer was sorted out and summarized. The luminescence mechanism of rare earth polymer was mainly composed of central rare earth ion luminescence, antenna effect and co-fluorescence effect. The rare earth polymer was divided into doped rare earth polymer and bonded rare earth polymer according to whether they could be bonded or not, which were mainly used in agricultural plastic film, anti-forgery ink, luminous fiber, fluorescence probe, solar cell and other fields. Rare earth polymer has been applied in many fields owing to its excellent comprehensive properties. It is of necessary scientific significance and value to further study the optical properties of rare earth polymer.