Abstract: In late Yuan and early Ming dynasty，there appeared an immigration climax both in the South and the North.Differences in immigration patterns placed decisive influences on the village generation and evolution.Studies on villages in southeast Hubei and east Henan reveal distinctive differences in social characteristics between villages in the South and the North.The former is characterized by clan gathering，and village evolution corresponds to gathering and separation of clan families.The latter is characterized by scattered residence，and villages evolve as clan families constantly break up into subdivisions.Such differences contribute to different social characteristics of rural China in the South and the North：villages in the South are highly institutionalized with highly developed and mature village clans，and villages in the North are distinctively functionalized，with loose clan ties among households.The study forms the foundation of the further studies on southnorth differences in rural China in public and private concept，relations between state and farmers，the rural authority and rural governance and so on.

Key words: immigration patterns, village generation in the South and North, evolution of village form, historical differences, differences in village characteristics