Research was carried out to determine the compensation effects of water stress and rewatering on the structure of rice canopy by pot and test-pit experiments. The results showed that water stress inhibited the number of leaves and leaf area, and effectively induced the rice canopy structure that was beneficial to the compensation effect of post-drought watering. By post-drought watering, the panicle nodes were elongated, senescence speed of leaves was restrained, and rice adaptabilities to next drought were increased. The compensation effects of rewatering are best after heavy drought at late stage of seedlings and light drought at early stage of jointing. Continuous drought by two rice growth stages and heavy drought at jointing stage should be avoided.