The invention relates to a circulating structure and method for exhaust gas of a coke oven. The circulating structure comprises a main exhaust gas pipe, a connecting pipe, an automatic flow controller, a basement horizontally-arranged pipe, a lower jet pipe and brick exhaust gas channels which are successively connected, wherein the main exhaust gas pipe is connected with an exhaust gas source via an external variable-frequency fan, the basement horizontally-arranged pipe is horizontally arranged along the coke oven, the upper part of the basement horizontally-arranged pipe is provided with the lower jet pipe which is connected with the brick exhaust gas channels built in the wall of each heat storage chamber, and brick exhaust gas channel outlets located at the top of the brick exhaust gas channels are arranged in a vertical flue of a combustion chamber. The circulating structure and method are applied to a compound heating coke oven using lean gas for heating and can increase the circulation volume of exhaust gas, reduce the discharging amount of NOX in coke oven flue gas and improve uniformity of high heating of the vertical flue; and the circulating structure is simple in structure and convenient and accurate to adjust, can be in automatic control, and is beneficial for improving an operation environment, mitigating labor intensity and improving work efficiency and security.