The invention provides a channel state information reference signal sending method and a receiving method. The methods comprise the following steps: a base station selects a channel state information reference signal subframe configuration from a pre-configured channel state information reference signal subframe configuration table and sends the channel state information reference signal periodically in the downlink subframe according to the channel state information reference signal subframe configuration; the base station notifies the channel state information reference signal subframe configuration information to a terminal. The invention provides a concrete scheme and a related signaling design of channel state information reference signal period configuration. The channel state information reference signal period configuration of TDD and FDD systems can be realized. Simultaneously, measuring precision is taken into consideration in the methods so that system performance can be optimized.