Abstract: Rivers, as the cradle of human civilization, possess fundamental ethical forms and unique ethical value.With the rapid development of modern society and the excessive exploitation of natural resources, river eco-environmental issues have become increasingly severe, so it is significant to explore the concept, research framework and construction path of river ethics.From an ethical perspective, this paper defines river ethics as an ideology that endows rivers with life, morality, rights, and value.The connotation of river ethics and the significance of constructing river ethics are explained.The research framework of river ethics is constructed from five aspects: research objective, connotation interpretation, construction significance, main content and construction path.The main research content includes five parts: theoretical basis, ideology, problem assessment, construction path and support system of river ethics.Based on this research, and starting from the supporting system of river ethics(including the ideological system, institutional system, cultural system, engineering system, technical system, and management system),we summarize and put forward10construction paths of river ethics.The research results are expected to provide theoretical support for the study and application of river ethics system.