Abstract: Poyang Lake has two variable physical features. The area of the lake fluctuates dramatically between the wet and dry seasons. Property rights are more complex during the dry season. Since the late Ming Dynasty, there was an active“Fishing Rights”trading market in the Poyang Lake region. The boundary of water surface could not be as clearly delineated in a physical way as land could be, and fishing rights could not be traded as a unit of area, but rather only as virtual “shares.” In the Qing dynasty, the trading of fishing rights mainly comprised three forms: general tenancy, permanent tenancy, and complete sale. In fact, the concept of “permanent tenancy”not only existed in civil society, but this form also received official recognition. But, this kind of “permanent tenancy”was not purely a type of market-driven behavior; it was influenced by many non-market factors．