Gastroesophageal variceal bleeding is a severe complication of portal hypertension. The prevention of gastroesophageal variceal bleeding and rebleeding remains an important goal in treating patients with liver cirrhosis. This article briefly describes the four stages of the prevention and treatment of gastroesophageal variceal bleeding due to portal hypertension and points out that the therapeutic strategy should be selected according to the clinical stage,hepatic venous pressure,and liver function classification of patients.