Studies of the water-holding capacity of litters and soil under the plantations of different age groups was carried out in four types of pure stands (such as Pinus massoniana forest, Cupressus funebris forest, Cunninghamia lanceolata forest and Quercus acutissima forest) in Taizishan Forest Farm,Hubei Province.The results showed that the nearly-mature stand of C.funebris forest had the biggest total litter amount（15.53 t/hm2）,the juvenile stand of Q.acutissima forest had the smallest total litter amount（2.39 t/hm2）； the maximum water-holding ratio of the litter in Q.acutissima forests of three different age groups were the highest compared with other stand types.However,the maximum water-holding capacity and effective retain capacity of the nearly-mature C.funebris stand were biggest,reaching up to 29.82 t/hm2 and 23.76 t/hm2,respectively,with middle-aged C.funebris stand,nearly-mature P.massoniana stand and nearly-mature Q.acutissima stand following it.The litters of middle-aged stand and the nearly-mature stand of C.funebris have superior effective retain capacity.The NCWHC (non-capillary water-holding capacity) and CWHC(capillary water-holding capacity) of three different-aged Q.acutissima stands below the depth of soil layer(0-40 cm) were more than others．Among the middle-aged stands and the nearly-mature stands,water-holding capacity of soil under Q.acutissima plantation was maximum（2 182.4 t/hm2 and 2 658.2 t/hm2,respectively）,water-holding capacity of soil under P.massoniana plantation was minimum（1 291.8 t/hm2 and 1 739.8 t/hm2,respectively）.