The invention belongs to the technical field of damping (vibration reduction), and particularly relates to a viscous damper. The viscous damper comprises a cylinder body, a cylinder cover, a piston rod, a piston head, a guide sleeve and sealing and viscous damping fluid. The cylinder body and the cylinder cover form a damping cavity, the damping cavity is divided into a first damping chamber and a second damping chamber through the piston head, a two-way holding valve is arranged on the piston head, and the two ends of the two-way holding valve are connected with the first damping chamber and the second damping chamber respectively. According to the viscous damper, the two-way holding valve is arranged on the piston head, when the speed of the viscous damper is larger than the critical speed, due to the fact that force exerted on a valve core of the holding valve is larger than preloaded pressure of a spring, the holding valve is closed, and consequently the output damping force of the viscous damper can reach a rated value. In addition, the viscous damper is compact in structure and convenient to install, and a two-way locking function can be achieved.