Establishment of ecological land guarantees national land ecological security pattern and creating an ecological civilization. Therefore, the concept of ecological land is a hot topic in the field of land resource research. Standardizing the definition of the concept and classification for ecological land is the premise of deepening its study and practice, which is a current challenge in this research field. This study provides an overview of ecological land research to identify the characteristics of its conception and classification. Further, based on function-oriented, scale-dependent, region-specific, hierarchical, and practical principles, we illustrate and construct a concept and multi-dimensional classification system for management-oriented ecological land, which includes four main types:fundamental ecological land, auxiliary ecological land, productive ecological land, and recreational ecological land. These types are then further broken down into ten first classes and fifteen second classes, and are discussed in terms of their scale- and region-specific properties. This classification system will be significant for national and local policy decision making and should facilitate further study of ecological land and ecosystem services, as well as promote the establishment of an ecological civilization.