Rice production plays a crucial role ia the food supply of China and a better understanding of the changes in paddy soil fertility and the management effects is of practical importance for increasing rice productivity. In this study, field sampling in a typical red soil region of subtropical China, Jiangxi Province, was used to observe changes in the soil physical, chemical,and biological properties in a cultivation chronosequence of paddy fields. After cultivation, clay (＜ 0.002 mm) content in the soil, which was 39% in the original uncultivated wasteland, decreased to 17% in the 80-year paddy field, while silt(0.02-0.002 mm) content increased. Additionally, macroporosity increased and pore shapes became more homogeneous.Soil pH generally increased. Soil organic C and total N contents of the 0-10 cm layer increased from 4.58 and 0.39 g kg-1to 19.6 and 1.62 g kg-1, respectively, in the paddy fields after 30-year cultivation and then remained stable. Soil total P content increased from 0.5 to 1.3 g kg-1 after 3 years of rice cultivation, indicating that application of phosphate fertilizer could accelerate phosphorous accumulation in the soil. Total K content in the 0-10 cm soil layer for the 80-year paddy field decreased by 28% compared to that of the uncultivated wasteland land. Total Fe and free Fe contents declined with years of cultivation. The bacterial population increased and urease activity noticeably intensified after years of cultivation.In this chronosequence it appeared that it took 30 years to increase soil fertility to a relatively constant value that was seen after 80 years of cultivation.