Water and fertilizer are two key factors for promoting plant growth.Our objective was to select appropriate water and fertilizer management measure for promoting plant growth and stress resistance of Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim.‘Hanyuan’ (ZBMH).With the ZBMH seedling as test material,a pot experiment was conducted to study the coupling effects of water and fertilizer on physiological characteristics of stress resistance,and the subordinate function was applied to comprehensively evaluate the impact of water and fertilizer on stress resistance.Water levels included 30%,50% and 70% field water capacity (FWC);fertilizer application levels included NPK,1/2 NPK and no fertilizer,and N,P₂O₅ and K₂O fertilizer application rate in NPK was 150,60 and 150 kg·hm^-2,respectively.Results showed that:(1)The base diameter (D),height (H),soluble sugar and protein,chlorophyll and free proline contents,peroxidase and catalase activities,and subordinate degree of stress resistance (SDSR) in leaf increased with the fertilization increase,but firstly increased and then decreased with the soil water content increase,and the highest values were observed in 50% FWC.On the contrary,relative conductivity and malondialdehyde content in leaf decreased with the fertilization increase,while firstly decreased and then increased with the soil water content increase,and the lowest values were observed in 50% FWC.(2)The SDSR significantly and positively correlated with D,H and D²H of ZBMH seedling (P＜0.05).The relationship of SDSR (y) with soil water content (x₄) and fertilization level (x₅) can be described as y=-1.662-0.001 085x₄²-0.17x₅²+0.100 7x₄+0.420 8x₅(n=27,R²=0.989).The optimal combination of water and fertilizer was 46.4% FWC,185 kg·hm^-2 of N,74 kg·hm^-2 of P₂O₅,and 185 kg·hm^-2 of K₂O.It was suggested that appropriate soil water content and fertilizer application is important to promote plant growth and stress resistance of ZBMH seedling.