The seeds of adzuki bean variety ‘Jingnong No. 8’ were used as experimental material in pot in 2015. The effects of seed soaking with uniconazole on the growth and root physiological characteristics were investigated under different water conditions including normal irrigation, moderate and severe drought, the five different concentrations of uniconazole were 0, 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg·L^-1. The main results showed that: (1) the growth, yield, chlorophyll contents, maximal PSⅡ photochemical efficiency(F_v/F_m), potential activity of PSⅡ(F_v/F₀) and antioxidant enzyme activities of adzuki bean seedling decreased. However, root MDA content and rootshoot ratio increased under drought stress. (2) Uniconazole treatment significantly improved the activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, soluble sugar content and soluble protein content, and reduced root MDA content under drought stress (severe and moderate drought) and thus alleviating the oxidative damage of drought stress on plasma membrane. (3) Uniconazole treatment increased chlorophyll contents, F_v/F_m and F_v/F₀ while obviously decreased F₀ of adzuki bean leaves, which favours the amount of dry matter accumulation, even yield under drought stress. These results showed that uniconazole treatment, especially 20 mg·L^-1 uniconazole, was favorable for the adzuki bean seedlings to increase photosynthetic physiological characteristics and antioxidant enzyme activities, which improved adzuki bean growth and increased drought resistance.