In order to reveale the characteristics of manganese accumulation characteristics and tolerance mechanism of Rhus chinensis, this study investigated the effects of Mn²⁺ concentrations of 0 (CK), 1, 5, 10 and 20 mmol·L^-1 on the growth, physiological and biochemical characteristics and manganese accumulation characteristics of R. chinensis seedlings of half a year old by pot experiments. The results showed that: (1) under the conditions of Mn²⁺ concentration of 0-10 mmol·L^-1, R. chinensis seedlings grew well. When Mn²⁺ concentration attained to 5 mmol·L^-1, the leaves spread, were dark in color and grew best; while Mn²⁺ concentration attained to 20 mmol·L^-1, some leaves showed brown spots and wilting and curling. With the increasing of Mn²⁺ concentration, the biomass of R. chinensis seedling increased significantly at first and then decreased, and reached the highest when the concentration of Mn²⁺ was 5 mmol·L^-1. (2) With the increasing of Mn²⁺ concentration, the photosynthetic pigment content in R. chinensis leaves increased at first and then decreased. When Mn²⁺ concentration attained to 10 mmol·L^-1, the photosynthetic pigment content in R. chinensis reached the highest. (3) With the increasing of Mn²⁺ concentration, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT), and the contents of soluble sugar, soluble protein and free proline of R. chinensis seedling leaves increased at first and then decreased, and most of these values reached the maximum when Mn²⁺ concentration attained to 10 mmol·L^-1. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content of R. chinensis increased with the rising Mn²⁺ concentration. (4) With the increasing of Mn²⁺ concentration, the manganese content of aboveground and underground part and total manganese content of R. chinensis seedlings gradually increased. The bioconcentration factors (BCF) of R. chinensis decreased significantly with the increase of Mn²⁺ concentration, and all of them were higher than one. The translocation factor (TF) increased significantly, all of which were less than one. This study showed that R. chinensis has a strong ability of manganese accumulation, transportation, and manganese tolerance. R. chinensis belongs to the manganesetolerant plant, which stored manganese in roots. It mainly deals with manganese stress by accumulating osmotic adjustment substances, enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity and accumulating manganese in roots.