In order to understand the dynamic change of water quality in a specific period of time,a type of possibility transition matrix based on the theory of Markov process was established.The transition possibility with a weight to calculate the degree of absolute advancement was given based on the result of water quality evaluation,the concept of relative advancement was presented.It was used to evaluate the extent of water quality changed in a period of time.The method was used to calculate the degrees of relative advancement for 4 rivers in China,and the results were analyzed.