Time-resolved spectra of Zn plasma induced by a femtosecond laser are acquired and analyzed with an intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) spectral system. The time-evolution characteristics of the plasma spectra and parameters are investigated. Through analyzing the continuous and characteristic spectra of the Zn plasma, it is found that the continuous spectrum appears firstly and its life time is only about 100 ns, subsequently the characteristic spectrum emerges. The different characteristic spectra show different intensities. Meanwhile the evolution regularities of the electron density and temperature are obtained. Furthermore, the line shift of the spectrum at 481.0 nm is analyzed. The results show that there are red shifts for the spectrum at the original region and its maximum value is up to 0.23 nm. Then the red shift becomes quite small after 300 ns. The line shift changes with the electron density almost linearly.