The invention discloses a face recognition method of a deep convolutional neural network, which reduces the time complexity, and enables a weight in the network to still have a high classification capacity under the condition of reducing the number of training samples. The face recognition method comprises a training stage and a classification stage. The training stage comprises the steps of (1) randomly generating a weight wj between an input unit and a hidden unit and an offset bj of the hidden unit, wherein j equals to 1,...,L and represents the number of the weight and the offset, and the total number is L; (2) inputting a training image Y and a label thereof, by using a forward conduction formula hw, b(x)=f(W<T>x), wherein hw, b(x) is an output value, x is input, and an output value hw, b(x<(i)>) of each layer is calculated; (3) calculating the offset of the last layer according to a label value and an output value of the last layer; (4) calculating the offset of each layer according to the offset of the last layer, and acquiring the gradient direction; and (5) updating the weight. The classification stage comprises the steps of (a) keeping all parameters in the network to be unchanged, and recording a category vector outputted by the network of each training sample; (b) calculating a residual error delta, wherein delta=||hw, b(x<(i)>)-y<(i)>||<2>; and (c) classifying a tested image according to the minimum residual error.