Abstract: As a kind of abundant renewable phenolic structure polymer, lignin could replace traditional fossil resources to be used in synthetizing polymer materials. Especially, its rigid aromatic macromolecular structure could give materials good thermal stability and mechanical performance. However, the complex chemical composition and molecular structure, lower reactivity of lignin limited its application. Chemical degradation had advantages of high efficiency, high selectivity and could be used widely. Compared to lignin, oligomers derived from lignin chemical degradation had more reactive functional groups, higher reactivity and better solubility, which would be beneficial to expanding the high value-added applications of lignin in the field of polymer materials. The current research progress on the chemical degradation of lignin and its products applications in polymer materials were mainly reviewed.