Yttrium stabilized zirconia (YSZ) powder was synthesized by hydrothermal method using yttrium nitrate hexahydrate and zirconium oxychloride as yttrium and zirconium sources, respectively. YSZ bulk material was prepared by discharge plasma sintering (SPS) method using self-made YSZ powder as raw material. The effects of sintering temperature and pressure on the microstructure, Vickers hardness, fracture toughness and other mechanical properties were studied. The results show that pure YSZ powder can be obtained by hydrothermal method when the content of yttrium is 10 %. With the increase of SPS temperature and pressure, the density of YSZ block material gradually increased, and YSZ block with a porosity of only 2.6 % was prepared at 1400 ℃/50 MPa. With the increase of sintering temperature, the Vickers hardness and nano-hardness of the material first increase and then decrease, while the elastic modulus will increase accordingly. With the increase of sintering pressure, the mechanical properties of the material will be improved, and the maximum value will be reached at 1400 ℃/50 MPa. The Vickers hardness, nano-hardness and elastic modulus are 13.11±0.2 GPa, 15.67±0.21 GPa and 350.43±6.19 GPa, respectively. The fracture toughness decreases first and then increases with the increase of sintering temperature, and decreases with the increase of sintering pressure, reaching the maximum at 1400 ℃/20 MPa, which is 5.4±0.27MPa·m1/2。