Abstract: With five good winter wheat cultivars selected from the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River and Southwest China as test materials, a field experiment in Xinding basin area of Shanxi Province was conducted to study the photosynthetic characteristics, chlorophyll content, and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of flag leaf at different sowing dates, as well as the correlations between these indices and yield for two years (2013-2014). The results showed that the difference in most fluorescence parameters except chlorophyll content among cultivars was significant. The correlations between these fluorescence parameters and yield were significant. The variation coefficient of chlorophyll (Chl) content was low (0.12-0.17), and that of performance index based on absorption (PI_abs) was high (0.32-0.39), with the partial correlation coefficients of them with grain yield from 2013 to 2014 ranged in 0.70-0.81. Under the early sowing condition, the grain yield positively correlated with PI_abs at flowering and filling stages and chlorophyll content at grain filling stage, but negatively correlated with the relative variable fluorescence at I point (V_i) at grain filling stage. About 81.1%-82.8% of grain yield were determined by the variations of PI_abs, Chl, and V_i. Wheat cultivars had various performances in the treatments with different sowing dates and a consistent trend was observed in the two experimental years. Among these 5 cultivars, Yangmai 13 was suitable for early sowing, with the flag leaf photosynthetic rate (P_n), Chl, most fluorescence parameters, and grain yield showed obviously high levels. In conclusion, under early sowing condition chlorophyll content at grain filling stages, PI_abs at flowering and filling stages, and P_n were important indices for selecting wheat cultivars with high photosynthetic efficiency.