In order to explore the shade tolerance of different soybean varieties and screen out the soybean varieties suitable for intercropping in northern Shaanxi and establish a standardized evaluation method, this paper took 20 soybean varieties as test materials, and set intercropping (natural shade) and moncropping (no shade) as two treatments. Principal component analysis, membership function analysis and stepwise regression analysis were used to evaluate shade tolerance coefficients of 14 indexes such as plant height, stem diameter and bottom pod height. By principal component analysis, 14 index coefficients were transformed into 4 independent comprehensive indexes, representing 78.665% of the information. The evaluation value of comprehensive shade tolerance was calculated by membership function, and 20 soybean varieties (lines) were divided into strong shade tolerance type (8), medium shade tolerance type (6) and weak shade tolerance type (6). Six indices including plant height, bottom pod height, pod number of main stem, pod number of lateral branch, 100 grain weight and lodging resistance were selected to evaluate the shade tolerance of soybean varieties in northern Shaanxi. This study clarified the evaluation system and key indicators of soybean shade tolerance in the arid area of northern Shaanxi, and screened a number of strong shade-tolerant varieties suitable for intercropping, which could provide varieties and technical support for soybean-maize strip compound planting. Follow-up multi-year multi-point verification and supporting cultivation technology research can be carried out.