The invention relates to a reagent for determining total bilirubin by a sodium nitrite oxidation method, which can effectively solve present problems and has a wide linear range, strong interference immunity, a standard reaction curve, a rapidly-reached end point, high accuracy and precision of determination, and the capability of practical application without environmental pollution. The preparation method of the reagent is that: a reagent 1 is prepared by adding water into 2.25-5.26 g of trisodium citrate, 16.40-19.80 g of citric acid, 0.10-1.0 ml of polyethyleneglycol octyl phenyl ether, 0.20-0.65 g of disodium ethylene diamine tetraacetate to obtain 1000 ml, and mixing the mixture, wherein the reagent 1 has a pH of 2.2-3.6; a reagent 2 is prepared by adding water into 0.14-0.56 g of sodium nitrite, 0.05-0.15 g of sodium hydroxide, 0.10-0.30 g of sodium carbonate to obtain 1000 ml, and mixing the mixture, wherein the reagent 2 has a pH of 11-13. The invention has scientific components, is easy to produce, has low cost, stable performance, and long shelf life, is accurate in determination, and has no environmental pollution.