Abstract: High-risk periods and priority control areas refer to the main periods and areas of soil erosion, respectively. Identification of high-risk periods and priority control areas of soil erosion on monthly scale has important practical significance for the protection of soil and water resources. Based on the USLE model, the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of soil erosion in each month in the middle and lower reaches of the Hanjiang River Basin were analyzed quantitatively. By using the cooperation analysis of high-risk periods and priority control areas, the high-risk periods of soil erosion were identified quantitatively based on the erosion-period curve, and then the priority control areas in high-risk periods were identified based on the erosion-area curve. The results showed that the soil erosion in the middle and lower reaches of the Hanjiang River Basin in 2010 has the characteristic of concentrated distribution. The severe erosion areas were mainly distributed in the northwest and southeast of the basin, accounting for 11.70% of the basin area. The areas with mild and slight erosion were mainly distributed in the east and south of the basin with lower slopes, accounting for 88.30% of the basin area. The high-risk periods of soil erosion in the basin were months 4 and 7, and the amount of soil erosion accounted for 69.12% of the year. And the amount of soil erosion in July was the highest, accounting for 41.83% of the whole year, followed by April, accounting for 27.29% of the year. In the high-risk periods of soil erosion in the middle and lower reaches of the Hanjiang River Basin, the priority control areas accounted for 12.22% of the basin area, and the amount of the erosion reached 82.01% of the basin. The priority control areas were mainly distributed in the north, west and southeast of the basin. The control efficiency of soil erosion can be greatly improved by controlling priority control areas in high-risk periods.