To protect Chinese ancient building, aseismic behaviors of Chinese anci ent tenon-mortise joint are studied. Based on actual sizes of some part of Tai-He Palace in the Forbidden City, wooden frame models with a scale of 1:8 of the prototype structure are built considering Yan-wei type of tenon-mortise connections. By low cyclic reversed loading tests, M-θhysteretic curves as well asskeleton curves of the joints are obtained; the energy dissipation capability, stiffiness degradation and deformation performance are analyzed, then restoring force model is also studied. Results show that M-θhysteretic curves of tenon-mortise joint are mainly of Z shape with obvious rheostriction property. With the increase of joint rotation angle, its skeleton curve tends to be flat which reflects its good ductility performance; however its energy dissipation capability and stiffiness decrease, and the tenon-mortise joint has low bearing capability.