Soil chronosequences are valuable tools for investigating rates and directions of soil evolution and their modeling as well as for testing theories of pedogenesis. To obtain reliable results, the establishment of soil chronosequences must consist of two critical processes, i.e. quantitative identification of parent material uniformity or lithologic discontinuities (LDs) between and within profiles of the chronosequence, and identification of age of the soils with numerical or geochronometric dating methods and surface exposure (relative) dating methods. In this paper, types and constructing procedures of soil chronosequences, and in detail, the detection methods of parent material uniformity or LDs as well as age dating techniques are reviewed, with a view to providing detailed references for correct construction of soil chronosequences and better understanding the effects of the time factor on soil development. In addition, this paper discusses the significance of the chronosequence approach in pedogenesis research.