We examined the effects of the constituent amino acids for glutathione (GSH) -- glutamate (Glu), cysteine (Cys), and glycine (Gly) -- on GSH synthesis in Chinese cabbage seedlings. Glu, Cys, and Gly were applied simultaneously $(100 mg L^{-l})$ to the culture solution for 2d. When compared with the control, GSH concentrations were increased by 2.1fold $(640.4nmol g^{-l};FW)$ and 1.5-fold $(416.4 nmol g^{-l};FW)$ in the first leaf and the roots, respectively. Of all the free amino acids, the non-essentials, including Glu, Cys and Gly, occupied $95.5\%$ (shoots) and $81.9\%$ (roots) of the total. Cys supplements greatly enhanced the GSH concentration in the roots; application of $100 mg;L^{-l}$ increased the level by 7-fold over the control. The activity of GSH synthetase was higher in the roots than in the leaf, whereas that of $gamma­glutamylcysteine$ synthetase was higher in the leaf.