Soil enzymology, as an interdiscipline between soil biology and biochemistry, aims at studying soil enzyme activities and their associated properties. Soil enzymes play major roles in nutrient cycling and energy flow in soil ecosystem. This paper reviewed the development history of soil enzymology, the sources, classifications, functions and distributions of soil enzymes, etc. and summarized the effects of soil physical and chemical properties, fertilization, grazing, soil microorganisms, rare earth elements, grass growth ages, land use types and other factors on soil enzyme activities. In the end, it prospected the future studies in soil enzymology with the combination of our research progresses in soil enzymes. This paper is useful in deepening the understanding of material cycles in ecosystems, the ecological importance of enzymes, and the degradation mechanism of soil ecosystem.