The soil rotational tillage system with the proper match of different tillage practices could solve all the long-term and continuous single-tillage problems in agricultural regions. This method has attracted attention both at home and abroad. In order to understand the research progress on ecological effects under the rotational tillage patterns in different agricultural regions of China, in this paper, we review in detail the concept, patterns of rotational tillage, and the ecological effects of this system. According to existing data, we summarize the soil rotational tillage pattern types, operation effects, and mechanical choice in different agricultural regions. There is a need for scientific evaluation of the ecological effects on soils and crops under rotational tillage, and there are still a number of unsolved problems in the research on current soil rotational tillage technology; accordingly, we provided some suggestions. It is difficult to study the realistic cycle of rotational tillage; analysis of the research progress on the rotational tillage at home and abroad showed that the readily researchable areas and priorities in this field in China are the following: (1) in combination with mainstream cropping patterns for each agricultural region, the rotational tillage patterns that combine rotational tillage with crop rotation need to be studied; (2) the cycle of rotational tillage in different agricultural regions needs to be ascertained and perfected; (3) the problem of soil degradation and crop failures caused by the rotational tillage practice and technology has to be solved; (4) the effects of rotational tillage practice on soil fertility maintenance and absorption of fertilizer by crops need further research; (5) the research into the rotational tillage systems with respect to technology evaluation, technical popularization, and matching technologies needs more attention and funding.