Abstract: As a kind of "macro variable" describing "macro system"，energy has clear physical meaning and rich amount of information. Behind the energy evolution，there contains not only the information of the energy storage state of the rock itself，but also the damage and fracture information of the rock structure. In the deep strata，the characteristics of rock energy evolution under mining disturbance will be more obvious，and the instability or failure of rock mass driven by energy will occur more frequently. In order to further study the characteristics of energy evolution of loaded rocks，it is necessary to sort out the current research progress. The energy distribution mode of loaded rock are summarized，on the basis of which the energy use of each component is analyzed. The effects of rock self-factors and external conditions on the characteristics of rock energy evolution are considered. The self-factors of rock include the soft and hard of rock，the homogeneous materials or not，the complete structure or not；the external conditions include the influence of confining pressure condition，unloading condition and loading rate. Finally，it is pointed out that the current research on the evolution of rock loaded energy is still developing，so it is necessary to open up new test ideas，create new test methods，and further excavate the rich amount of in? formation behind the energy.

Key words: Loaded rock, Energy evolution, Rock mechanics, Research progress