The spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of effective rainfall (Pe), rice water requirement (ETc), and the coupling degree (λ) of ETc and Pe during early and late rice growth period were analyzed by Penman-Monteith method, Mann-Kendall trend test, climate tendency rate and ArcGIS spatial interpolation analysis based on the daily meteorological data of 15 meteorological stations in Jiangxi Province from 1958 to 2017. The results showed that the average Pe was 186.69 and 119.26 mm for early and late rice, respectively, and the Pe in early and late rice growth period increased at an average rate of 1.00 and 1.31 mm/10a, respectively. The Pe in northern Jiangxi and its upward trend rate were greater than those in southern Jiangxi. The average ETc in early and late rice growth period was 335.77 and 381.20 mm, respectively. The maximum ETc in early rice and late rice both appeared in the area near Ganzhou and Ji’an station, the minimum ETc in both appeared in the vicinity of Lushan and Xiushui station. The ETc in early and late rice growth period presented a climate tendency rate of -3.09 and -7.95 mm/10a, respectively. The inter-annual average coupling degree of ETc and Pe in early and late rice growth period was 0.57 and 0.33, respectively, the coupling degree of ETc and Pe in early and late rice growth period showed an insignificant increase at a rate of 0.01/10a. The maximum coupling degree of ETc and Pe in early and late rice growth period both appeared in Lushan Station, while the smaller coupling degree appeared in Ganzhou, Ji’an, Nanchang and Boyang Station. On the whole, the coupling degree of ETc and Pe and its climate tendency rate in northern Jiangxi was greater than that in southern Jiangxi, but the water shortage of rice in southern Jiangxi was more severe than that in northern Jiangxi. Hence, special attention should be paid to water shortage of late rice in southern Jiangxi, in the meantime, further efforts on water resources planning and irrigation schemes are required.