Abstract: At present China is in a critical period of building ecological civilization and well-off society. The connotation of soil and water conservation expands in deep to meet higher goals and requirements. The basic task of soil and water conservation is to coordinate the relationship between water and soil. Firstly, when the relationship between land and water is in harmony, it should be protected and maintained. Secondly, if there is a contradiction between water and soil, the relationship needs to be repaired until it is in harmony. Thirdly, the goal of soil and water conservation is not to get rid of water and soil loss, but to control the intensity of soil and water erosion within the allowable range. Fourthly, soil and water conservation is no longer confined in rural areas like mountainous area and sand area, but has gradually extended to cities in plain area. Soil and water conservation is a comprehensive and complicated system engineering. It integrates different disciplines involving agriculture, earth science, forestry, hydraulic engineering, biology, environmental science, information science and system science, sociology and economics. These disciplines provide basic theoretical foundation for the development of soil and water conservation science. Meanwhile, the development of soil and water conservation science will also enrich the contents of other disciplines. With the development of soil and water conservation science, its theoretical basis is not limited to this, but will absorb more discipline theories.