OBJECTIVE： To study the protective effects and the mechanism of Rabdosia serra water extract （RWE） on hepatic fibrosis （HF） induced by carbon tetrachloride （CCl4） in rats. METHODS： Sixty male SD rats were randomly divided into normal group， model group， colchicine group （0.12 mg/kg）， and RWE low-dose， medium-dose and high-dose groups （4， 8， 16 g/kg， by crude drug）， with 10 rats in each group. Except for intraperitoneal injection of olive oil for normal group， other groups were given 40％ CCl4 olive oil solution intraperitoneally to induce HF model. Since the first day of modeling， each treatment group was given relevant medicine （10 mL/kg） intragastrically， while normal group and model group were given constant volume of water intragastrically， once a day， for consecutive 6 weeks. After medication， biochemical process or ELISA were used to determine the contents of ALT， AST， HA， LN， PCⅢ and Ⅳ-C in serum， the activities or contents of SOD， GSH-Px， MDA， TNF-α， IL-6 and IL-1β in liver tissue. Pathological changes of liver tissue in rats were observed by HE staining. The expression of α-SMA and TGF-β1 in liver tissue were detected by Western blot. RESULTS： Compared with normal group， the contents of ALT， AST， LN， HA， PCⅢ and Ⅳ-C in serum， the contents of MDA， TNF-α， IL-6 and IL-1β in liver tissue were all increased significantly in model group （P＜0.01）； the activities of SOD and GSH-Px in liver tissue were decreased significantly （P＜0.01）. Liver fibrosis was obvious， and the relative expression of α-SMA and TGF-β1 were increased significantly （P＜0.01）. Compared with model group， the contents of ALT， AST， HA， LN， PCⅢ and Ⅳ-C in serum as well as the contents of MDA， TNF-α and IL-6 in liver tissue in colchicines group and RWE groups， the contents of IL-1β in liver tissue of rats in colchicines group， RWE medium-dose and high-dose groups were all decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. The activities of SOD and GSH-Px in liver tissue of rats were increased significantly in colchicines group and RWE groups （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. The fibrosis degree of liver tissue was significantly reduced， while the relative expression of α-SMA and TGF-β1 decreased significantly （P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS： RWE can protect CCl4-induced HF model rats， the mechanism of which may be associated with regulating lipid metabolism， relieving liver lipid peroxidation injury and anti-oxidative stress response， inhibiting the release of inflammatory factors and the expression of TGF-β1.