diff --git a/src/chart/helper/whiskerBoxCommon.ts b/src/chart/helper/whiskerBoxCommon.ts
index 177105283e..9502d3b6f8 100644
--- a/src/chart/helper/whiskerBoxCommon.ts
+++ b/src/chart/helper/whiskerBoxCommon.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,17 @@ class WhiskerBoxCommonMixin<Opts extends CommonOption> {
 
     defaultValueDimensions: CoordDimensionDefinition['dimsDef'];
 
+    /**
+     * @private
+     */
+    _hasEncodeRule(key: string) {
+        const encodeRules = this.getEncode();
+        if (encodeRules && encodeRules.data && encodeRules.data.has(key)) {
+            return encodeRules.data.get(key) != null;
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
     /**
      * @override
      */
@@ -74,12 +85,12 @@ class WhiskerBoxCommonMixin<Opts extends CommonOption> {
         if (xAxisType === 'category') {
             option.layout = 'horizontal';
             ordinalMeta = xAxisModel.getOrdinalMeta();
-            addOrdinal = true;
+            addOrdinal = !this._hasEncodeRule('x');
         }
         else if (yAxisType === 'category') {
             option.layout = 'vertical';
             ordinalMeta = yAxisModel.getOrdinalMeta();
-            addOrdinal = true;
+            addOrdinal = !this._hasEncodeRule('y');
         }
         else {
             option.layout = option.layout || 'horizontal';
@@ -161,4 +172,4 @@ class WhiskerBoxCommonMixin<Opts extends CommonOption> {
 };
 
 
-export {WhiskerBoxCommonMixin};
\ No newline at end of file
+export {WhiskerBoxCommonMixin};
diff --git a/test/boxplot-category.html b/test/boxplot-category.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9a4b1695f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/boxplot-category.html
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<!--
+Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+distributed with this work for additional information
+regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+"License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+"AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+specific language governing permissions and limitations
+under the License.
+-->
+
+
+<html>
+<head>
+    <meta charset="utf-8">
+    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
+    <script src="lib/simpleRequire.js"></script>
+    <script src="lib/config.js"></script>
+    <script src="lib/jquery.min.js"></script>
+    <script src="lib/facePrint.js"></script>
+    <script src="lib/testHelper.js"></script>
+    <!-- <script src="ut/lib/canteen.js"></script> -->
+    <link rel="stylesheet" href="lib/reset.css" />
+</head>
+<body>
+<style>
+</style>
+
+
+
+<div id="main0"></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<script>
+    require([
+        'echarts',
+    ], function (echarts) {
+        let layout = 'horizontal';
+        var categoryAxis = {
+            type: 'category',
+            boundaryGap: true,
+            nameGap: 30,
+            splitArea: {
+                show: false
+            },
+            splitLine: {
+                show: false
+            }
+        };
+        var valueAxis = {
+            type: 'value',
+            splitArea: {
+                show: true
+            }
+        };
+
+        function getOption(layout) {
+            return {
+                aria: {
+                    show: true
+                },
+                legend: {
+                    left: 'right'
+                },
+                tooltip: {
+                    trigger: 'item',
+                    axisPointer: {
+                        type: 'shadow'
+                    }
+                },
+                grid: {
+                    left: '10%',
+                    right: '10%',
+                    bottom: '15%'
+                },
+                xAxis: layout === 'horizontal' ? categoryAxis : valueAxis,
+                yAxis: layout === 'vertical' ? categoryAxis : valueAxis,
+                series: [
+                    {
+                        name: 'boxplot',
+                        type: 'boxplot',
+                        encode: layout === 'horizontal' ? {x: [5], y: [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]} : {y: [5], x: [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]},
+                        data: [
+                            [10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 'one'],
+                            [33, 38, 39, 40, 55, 'four'],
+                            [40, 45, 50, 52, 66, 'three']
+                        ]
+                    },
+                    {
+                        name: 'boxplot no encode',
+                        type: 'boxplot',
+                        data: [
+                            [10, 20, 30, 40, 50],
+                            [33, 38, 39, 40, 55],
+                            [40, 45, 50, 52, 66]
+                        ]
+                    },
+                ]
+            }
+        }
+
+        var chart = testHelper.create(echarts, 'main0', {
+            title: [
+                'Test Case - Boxplot Category axis values',
+                'Check that encoded values are used instead of ordinal values if they exist.',
+                'Use "Swap Axis" button below to test horizontal and vertical boxplots',
+                'Series "boxplot no encode" should show 0,1,2 on category axis while "boxplot" series should show "one","two","three" on category axis'
+            ],
+            option: getOption(layout),
+            button: {
+                name:'Swap Axis',
+                onClick:()=>{
+                    layout = layout === 'horizontal' ? 'vertical' : 'horizontal';
+                    chart.setOption(getOption(layout));
+                }
+            }
+        });
+    });
+</script>
+
+
+</body>
+</html>
+
