To study the photosynthetic characteristics and physiological characteristics under different light intensities,to know the response of the light intensity and adaptive mechanism of Rhododendron ‘Furnivall’s Daughter’,we potted 3 years old Rhododendron ‘Furnivall’s Daughter’ under four different light intensity levels:100% of full sunlight (L₁),53% of full sunlight (L₂),30% of full sunlight (L₃) and 17% of full sunlight (L₄),which were controlled by sunshade screen.The result showed that:(1)Compared with the plant growing in full sunlight,appropriate shade can effectively improve the light saturation point (LSP),decreased the light compensation point (LCP) and respiration rate in the dark (R_d),thus the shaded plants had strongernet photosynthetic rate (P_n).Under the three light intensity treatments,LCP and R_d were the lowest;LSP and light-saturated photosynthesis at ambient CO₂ concentration (P_max) were the highest in 30% of full light.L₃ was showed Rhododendron ‘Furnivall’s Daughter’ the most appropriate growth light intensity.(2)With the reduction of light intensity,chlorophyll a was dropped slightly.However,the content of chlorophyll b,nitrogen in per unit area (LNC_a) and photosynthetic nitrogen utilization efficiency (PNUE) were increased significantly.The influence of light intensity to chlorophyll b was more sensitive than that of chlorophyll a.As the results,total chlorophyll increasd obviously and the ratio of chlorophyll a/b decreased.(3)The plasticity analysis showed that Rhododendron ‘Furnivall’s Daughter’ adapted to the changes of light environment mainly through the changes of P_max,LSP,LCP,R_d,PNUE and total chlorophyll.However,leaf mass per unit area (LMA),LNC_a,malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) had little contribution.