Using the method of anaerobic glove chamber culture, active anaerobic bacteria were successfully enriched and cultivated in brown coal samples collected from Zhaotong Basin, Yunnan Province. Simulation experiments of biogenic gas for 60 days were further conducted to analyze the generation regularities, substance compositions and genetic mechanism of biogenic gas. The results showed that in all three brown coal samples there existed active anaerobic bacteria, among which cellulose decomposition bacteria were in majority and sulfate-reducing bacteria were very few, which means that the biochemical circumstances in the brown coal-seams of Zhaotong Basin were reductive and favorable for the growth of methanogen.