Lilium spp. are perennial bulbous herbs that include ornamental， edible， and medicinal lilies all with high economic value. Since Lily is identified with complex genetic background， high heterozygosity， incompatibility in distant hybridization， long cycle of traditional cross breeding as well as low breeding accuracy， it is difficult to breed for new varieties. These modern breeding techniques， including crossbreeding， mutation breeding， polyploidization breeding， protoplast fusion breeding， and genetic engineering， have been applied in lily. This article reviews and summarizes the methods for overcoming the barriers of distant hybridization in lily hybrid breeding， the treatments in mutation breeding， the technical approaches in polyploidization breeding and haploid breeding， the methods in protoplast isolation and fusion in protoplast fusion breeding， and the advances in lily genetic transformation and editing. In addition， several examples in lily breeding methods and techniques are listed， and the problems in techniques are proposed. The future development and application prospects in lily breeding technologies are discussed. This article aims to provide insights for future research on lily breeding technologies and their applications in breeding of lily varieties.