The invention discloses a yarn tension device for a warp knitting machine. The yarn tension device comprises a cylinder fixation seat, a cylinder, a cylinder pull head, a steel rope, a yarn through rod, rotary wheels, an air supply tube, a pressure gauge, a valve, an air storage tank, a tension spring, a yarn guide cap, a yarn and the like, wherein the rotary wheels are installed at the both ends of the yarn through rod, the tension spring is uniformly installed at the middle, and the yarn guide cap is clamped at the tail end of the tension spring; the yarn is woven by a machine table round the yarn guide cap; one end of the cylinder is located on the fixation seat, and the cylinder pull head at the other end is provided with the steel rope; the other end of the steel rope is fixed on the rotary wheel; in this way, the yarn through rod is tensioned as long as the cylinder works, thus tensioning the yarn guide cap; the air storage tank is installed on the machine table of the warp knitting machine, and an air compressor in a workshop is used for supplying air to the air storage tank; air in the air storage tank enters the cylinder through the air supply tube; a pressure in the cylinder is adjusted by a pressure adjusting valve, and the pressure is adjusted according to the tension of the yarn; the pressure display gauge is capable of displaying the air pressure during the working of the cylinder, thus facilitating operation.