The pyrolysis characteristic of phenolic resin has been investigated by means of thermogravimetric a鄄 nalysis and TG鄄MS analysis. Models of the pyrolysis kinetics were derived using the coats鄄redfern integral method. The results show that the pyrolysis reactions of phenolic resin have two types: reaction of chain breaking ( <600益in the low temperature region) and reaction of dehydrogenation (600 to 800益in the high temperature region). The py鄄 rolysis of phenolic resin can be described by first鄄order kinetics equations in both temperature regions. Different heat鄄 ing rates do not show evident influence on the active energy of two pyrolysis reactions.