In this paper three methods(dilute acid pretreatment, aqueous ammonia/dilute acid pretreatment and alkaline pretreatment) were used to study the hydrolysis of corn stover and characteristics of each method were compared. The results showed that the lignin removal rate was 71.8% when the corn stover was treated with a caustic soda solution containing 1.5% of NaOH, at a temperature of 75 ℃ for 90 min with an initial solid-liquid ratio of 1:8(w/v). Hydrolysis yield of the NaOH pretreated sample reached 78.5%, which was much higher than other control groups. These results are useful for evaluation of pretreatment technologies, and identification of key factors that limit cellulose hydrolysis, and can also serve as a basis for designing and screening appropriate pretreatment technologies. In this paper three methods (dilute acid pretreatment, aqueous ammonia / dilute acid pretreatment and alkaline pretreatment) were used to study the hydrolysis of corn stover and characteristics of each method were compared. The results showed that the lignin removal rate was 71.8% when the the The corn stover was treated with a caustic soda solution containing 1.5% of NaOH, at a temperature of 75 ° C for 90 min with an initial solid-liquid ratio of 1: 8 (w / v). Hydrolysis yield of the NaOH pretreated sample reached 78.5 %, which was much higher than other control groups. These results are useful for evaluation of pretreatment technologies, and identification of key factors that limit cellulose hydrolysis, and can also serve as a basis for designing and screening appropriate pretreatment technologies.