Multi-stage uplift of the Tibetan Plateau during the Cenozoic implies a complex geodynamic process. In this paper, we review main geodynamic models for the uplift of the plateau, and, in particular, analyze the spatio-temporal framework of the Cenozoic deformation structures, which are closely related to the deep geodynamic mechanism for the plateau uplift. From this perspective, significant?change of the deformation regime over the Tibetan Plateau occurred by the middle-late Miocene, while thrust and thrust-folding system under NS compression was succeded by extension or stress-relaxation. Meanwhile, a series of large-scale strike-slip faults commenced or was kinemtically reversed. Based on a systematic synthesis of the structure deformation, magmatism, geomorphological?process and geophysical exploration, we propose a periodical model of alternating crustal compression and extension for episodic uplift of the Tibetan Plateau.