[Purposes] By exploring the evaporation characteristics of different water bodies in Dongting Lake during the dry season, the hydrological cycle law of Dongting Lake was revealed, providing a reference for water resources management in Dongting Lake. [Methods] The hydrogen and oxygen isotope composition and evaporation characteristics of rivers, lakes, and underground water were compared by using the hydrogen and oxygen isotope tracer method, and the evaporation of the lake water was estimated by using water balance and isotope mass conservation equations. [Findings] The Xiangjiang River has the highest average values of oxygen isotope deviation value [δ18O] and hydrogen isotope deviation value [δD], and the Songzi River has the lowest values. The Yuanjiang River, Zijiang River, and Lishui River have little difference from Xiangjiang River. The average deuterium excess parameter dexcess of Zishui River is the largest, and that of the Songzi River is the smallest. Other rivers have little difference in terms of value. The [δ18O] and [δD] range of river water, lake water, and underground water is [?10.66‰,?2.84‰] and [?76.27‰,?21.69‰], [?6.59‰,?4.66‰] and [?40.65‰,?28.56‰], [?8.33‰,?4.60‰] and [?57.12‰,?27.50‰]. The evaporation lines of the three types of water bodies fitted by the least square method are as follows: [δD]=8.04[δ18O]+10.17, [δD]=5.02[δ18O]-6.58 and [δD]=8.08[δ18O]+11.32, respectively. It is believed that the evaporation of lake water is the strongest, followed by river water and underground water, and the evaporation intensity of river water in descending order is Songzi River, Chenglingji, Yuanjiang River, Xiangjiang River, Lishui River, and Zishui River. Water balance and isotope mass conservation methods are used to estimate the evaporation of the lake during the dry season as 0.173 × 108 m3/d, accounting for 4.1% of the water loss in the lake. [Conclusions] The difference of hydrogen and oxygen isotope composition and evaporation in different water bodies and rivers in Dongting Lake area during dry season is caused by the difference of water vapor conditions, topography and hydrological characteristics, and the water loss caused by evaporation is small.