To optimize the cutting propagation technology of the Taxodium distichum for cultivating a large number of T. distichum seedlings to meet the needs of vegetation restoration in the fluctuating zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir, an orthogonal experiment design was used to explore the effects of different exogenous hormones, concentrations and treatment time on rooting of cuttings of elder T. distichum in the hydro-fluctuation belt of the Three Gorges Reservoir. Besides, the subordination function was used to comprehensively evaluate the rooting condition of the cuttings. Results showed that:(1) The number of adventitious roots protruding from the bark and the callus accounted for 63.9% and 36.1% of the total number of adventitious roots, respectively; (2) Among these 4 exogenous hormones, IBA+NAA (mass ratio 1:1) and IBA (Indolebutyric acid) had the best effectiveness, followed by NAA (Naphthalene acetic acid), and ABT rooting powder was the poorest; (3) There was no significant difference in facilitating rooting of the cuttings among the five concentrations (50 mg/L, 100 mg/L, 150 mg/L, 200 mg/L and 250 mg/L); (4) Among these 4 treatment times (2 h, 4 h, 6 h and 8 h), the treatment time of 4 h had the best effectiveness; (5) Among these 26 treatment combinations, (IBA+NAA)×150 mg/L×4 h and NAA×250 mg/L×4 h had the highest average subordinate function value of 0.83 and 0.82, respectively; and the control group had the lowest average subordinate function value of 0.05. In this study, it was preliminarily verified that bark rooting was the main way of rooting of the cuttings from elder T. distichum, and (IBA+NAA)×150 mg/L×4 h and NAA×250 mg/L×4 h were suitable treatments for cutting propagation of elder T. distichum in the hydro-fluctuation belt of the Three Gorges Reservoir.