Abstract: Temperature field is of great importance to the safety and health of mass concrete in construction phase and embedding cooling pipes is the most commonly applied thermal control method. The analysis of temperature field within such mass concrete is a key part of the design. This paper presents a review of the history and state-of-the-art and a future prospect of the methods. First, the application history is reviewed in brief. Then, we discuss the major methods and their pros and cons, such as the analytical solution method, pseudo-3D method, FEM with refined meshes, equivalent effect method, sub-structure method, and CEM. Finally, future trends are discussed on theoretical and practical needs and development.