Abstract: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, non-specific inflammatory bowel disease with unclear etiology. The pathological process is characterized by alternating remission and active periods. Patients often need long-term or even lifelong management, which seriously affects their physical and mental health. Effective treatment and prevention of recurrence are the major challenges confronting current treatment of UC. Medicinal and edible Chinese medicine polysaccharides have a wide range of pharmacological activities. They can synergistically intervene in multiple pathological links owing to their multi-target and multi-channel characteristics, thus showing significant therapeutic potential. Medicinal and edible Chinese medicine polysaccharides have remarkable anti-UC effects by anti-inflammation, immune balance regulation, anti-oxidative stress, mucosal barrier repair, intestinal flora disorder regulation, programmed cell death regulation (apoptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis) and so on. The mechanisms and molecular targets of the medicinal and edible Chinese medicine polysaccharides on UC were summarized and analyzed in the article, which provides a reference for promoting the development and utilization of medicinal and edible Chinese medicine resources and the development of new drugs or functional foods for the treatment of UC.