Objective To observe the clinical classification and manifestation of diabetic optic neuropathy (DON) in patients with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR).Methods Two hundreds and twenty four patients (440 eyes) with NPDR diagnosed by fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) were included in this study. All patients were examined including visual acuity, intraocular pressure, slit-lamp microscopy, color fundus photography and visual field.The morphology of optic disc and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness were observed and measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT). The levels of HbA1C and lipid were detected. According to the examination results, the patients were divided into DON group and control group. DON groups were further subdivided into diabetic papillopathy (DP), anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) and optic atrophy subgroups. The incidence of DP, AION and optic atrophy were observed. And the differences of RNFL thickness and systemic related indexes among groups were statistically analyzed. Results Among the 440 eyes, DON was found in 19 eyes (4.3%), without DON was found in 421 eyes (95.7%). There were two eyes (10.5%) with DP, 12 eyes (63.2%) with AION and five eyes (26.3%) with optic atrophy in the DON group. Both of the DP eyes were without obvious DR. There was no statistical significance between the incidence of AION in without obvious DR, mild, in moderate and severe NPDR stage (chi;2= 0.019,P＞0.05). Compared with control group, the horizontal disc diameter, vertical disc diameter and C/D ratio were smaller in eyes with AION (t=-2.425,-3.432,-3.871;P＜0.05); the duration of diabetes was significantly prolonged (t=2.320,P＜0.05).Conclusions There are three kinds of DON in patients with NPDR, which include DP, AION and optic atrophy. Optic disk and C/D ratio are small, and the duration of diabetes course is long in AION patients.