Abstract: Building river ethics is a necessary way to achieve harmonious coexistence between humans and rivers.China has basically formed a river ethics with Chinese cultural characteristics.However, how China's watershed legislation reflects the content of river ethics and how to ensure the realization of river ethics still needs further exploration.Research has pointed out that under the guidance of river ethics, Chinese river basin legislation has written a legal system for the dual protection of natural and cultural life in rivers.TheYangtze River Protection Law,theYellow River Protection Law,and others have formed a legal framework for protecting natural life in rivers, with the concept of ensuring ecological security, the goal of achieving green development, and the content of systematic governance throughout the entire process.The legal protection of river cultural life also requires the establishment of river cultural protection plans, river cultural heritage recognition standards, river cultural heritage classification protection and publicity education, and river cultural judicial protection systems.The research results can contribute to the improvement of legislation, law enforcement, judiciary, and compliance in Chinese river basins, and contribute to the true realization of harmonious coexistence between humans and rivers.