Exploring the spatial and temporal characteristics of seasonal precipitation in the middle and down stream area of the Yangtze River and its response to atmospheric circulation can reveal the impact of climate change on abnormal precipitation in the basin, which is of great significance for further accurate prediction of drought and flood disasters in the basin. Based on the daily rainfall data from 1978 to 2017 in the middle and down stream area of the Yangtze River, the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of seasonal precipitation in the study area were analyzed by using the trend mutation test methods such as Rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function (REOF) and nonparametric Mann-Kendall test, and the response of precipitation in different seasons to the large-scale atmospheric circulation in the typical northern hemisphere was analyzed by using the cross wavelet method. The results show : (1) In the future, spring precipitation is likely to increase abnormally in the central region I; summer precipitation tends to increase abnormally in the southeast II region ; autumn precipitation tends to increase abnormally in the Northeast III region; the winter precipitation is easy to decrease abnormally in the southwest IV region. (2) Spring precipitation is highly correlated with four kinds of atmospheric circulation, autumn precipitation is not easily affected by circulation factors, and precipitation in Northeast China is easily affected in summer and winter. AO mainly affects winter precipitation, PDO easily affects spring and winter precipitation, and SOI has a great impact on summer precipitation. The response of seasonal precipitation to atmospheric circulation gradually decreases from the south and northeast regions to the northwest region. (3) The spring and autumn precipitation in the southeastern region II is highly unpredictable, and the summer precipitation is extreme and tends to increase. The abnormal precipitation in winter has a great impact and is related to wheat planting. It is necessary to focus on the impact of climate change on precipitation in the southeastern region. The above conclusions can provide potential predictors for the prevention and control of regional seasonal precipitation disasters and help to respond to regional drought and flood disasters in a timely manner, which can improve the pertinence and effectiveness of disaster prevention and control measures.