Abstract: Large-scale rocky landslides usually have the characteristics of high-altitude, strong concealment, high-speed and long-runout, which often lead to serious casualties and property losses. Revealing its deformation history and evolution rules can provide a reference for early detection of similar landslide disasters. Five typical large-scale rocky landslides in China in recent years are collected. Through visual interpretation of multi-temporal high-resolution remote sensing images, their deformation signs are identified and their evolution rules are analyzed. It is found that large-scale rocky landslides will produce significant surface deformation signs in the process of development and evolution. This deformation information can be identified by high-resolution (sub-meter level) optical remote sensing images. The incubation and evolution time of deformation can reach several years or even decades. Large-scale rocky landslides often do not have the "chair-like" geomorphological characteristics. The early identification signs of the landslides using optical remote sensing images are mainly whether there are tension cracks at the back of the slope and whether there are local slides at the front of the slope.