Tbe N - methylmorpholine - N - oxide (NMMO) - water solvent was used to dissolve the cellulose that was achieved by means of hydrothermolysis. Sample B, RS and WS used here were made from beech, rice straw and wheat straw respectively. They could be completely dissolved in the NMMO - water system. A commercial a - cellulose was employed in the comparative experiment. The entire dissolving process was Investigated. At a given temperature, the vacuum condition applied to the mixture of the cellulose and NMMO - water was very important in order to accelerate the dissolution of cellulose and shorten the dissolving period. After dissolution, degree of polymerization (DP) of all samples was measured by viscometry. Longer dissolving time and higher temperature could cause the degradation of the dissolved cellulose. N- propyl gallate could prevent the degradation of cellulose during the process of dissolution.