Water from rainfall or sprinkler irrigation is partitioned into four components as it passes through the crop canopy: stemflow, throughfall, interception storage and in-canopy evaporation. The crop canopy significantly changes the distribution of rain water and irrigation water in the canopy and topsoil, thus potentially causing uneven distribution of surface soil water content and altering water use efficiency. The objective of this experiment was to measure throughfall, stemflow, and interception storage at different times during the maize (Zea mays L.) growing season. Throughfall and stemflow were measured indoors during simulated rainfall events. The spray method was used to measure the interception storage of maize canopies with different leaf area index (LAI). The effects of LAI and rainfall intensity on throughfall, stemflow, and interception storage were analyzed and the spatial distribution of throughfall was clarified. The results showed that there had a significant effect in rainfall redistribution by maize canopy under simulated rainfall. Throughfall accounted for 30.97% to 94.02% of the total rainfall, averaging 63.92% across the entire experiment. Stemflow accounted for 5.98% to 70.42% of the total rainfall, averaging 35.28%.Interception storage ranged from 0.02 mm to 0.43 mm. The average interception storage was 0.16 mm. These amounts were equivalent to less than 1% of the total rainfall amount. The variation of maize canopy had significant effect on rainfall redistribution. The amount of throughfall declined gradually as the maize leaf area index increased, whereas stemflow and interception storage gradually increased. There was close correlation between the throughfall amount and the stemflow amount. As a percentage of the total rainfall amount, throughfall decreased from 93.55% early in the growing season to 36.22% later in the growing season. In contrast, the percentage of stemflow increased from 5.98% to 70.42%. Rainfall intensity showed different effect on throughfall and stemflow. There was a positive correlation between rainfall intensity and throughfall amount. There was also a positive correlation between rainfall intensity and stemflow amount. The ratio of throughfall to total rainfall was not significantly related to rainfall intensity (P > 0.05). Similarly, the ratio of stemflow to total rainfall was not was not significantly related to rainfall intensity (P > 0.05). The effect of rainfall intensity on throughfall ratio was uncertain, and this effect was restricted and influenced by physiological state of maize plant. The throughfall intensity was large in some region under maize canopy, and even beyond the rainfall intensity, which lead to significant difference of spatial distribution under maize canopy. As the maize grew, the spatial distribution of throughfall gradually became uneven. Rainwater tended to concentrate in the inter-row area. However, when the maize leaves began to decompose at the end of the growing season, the amount of rainwater in the inter-row area decreased. The redistribution of rainfall by maize canopy would make uneven distribution of rainfall on the surface soil. And this would lead to redistribute rainfall energy on the surface soil under maize canopy, which may has large influence on splash detachment and its distribution under maize canopy. This study provides important insights into the effect of the maize canopy on the redistribution of rainfall. The study also provides information about ecological and hydrological processes in far and. Information from this study could be used as a theoretical basis for effectively using agricultural water and for controlling soil erosion on slopes.