［Objective］ The impacts of the land use patterns on the water infiltration in red soil regions were studied to provide a scientific basis for soil and water conservation as well as land use planning. ［Methods］ A double-ring infiltrometer was used to quantify the water infiltration characteristics in red soils under six land use patterns： forest land， shrubland， grassland， peanut cropland， maize cropland， and bare land. Four infiltration models （Philip， Kostiakov， Horton， and Mezencev） were used to simulate infiltration process. The differences in the water infiltration characteristics were compared among the land use types， and the influence of the physical properties of the soil on the water infiltration capacity was systematically investigated. ［Results］ ① The initial， average， and steady infiltration rates of the red soil ranged from 3.50 to 41.93， 2.03 to 28.37， and 1.28 to 17.15 mm/min， respectively. The water infiltration capacity decreased as follows： forest land > bare land > shrubland > maize cropland > grassland > peanut cropland； ② The Kostiakov model most accurately simulated the red soil infiltration processes among the four models， with an R² ranging from 0.91 to 0.99 for all land use pattern. In contrast， the Horton and Mezencev models were particularly accurate in modeling the water infiltration of grandland and peanut cropland， with R² values of 0.93 and 0.91， respectively. The accuracy of the Philip model in modeling the water infiltration was relatively low. ③ The key physical factors influencing the water infiltration were the noncapillary porosity， natural moisture content， and clay content， which contributed 25.80% to 32.30%， 19.20% to 21.20%， and 16.30% to 20.70% of the total water infiltration capacity. ［Conclusion］ The water infiltration capacity of red soils varies widely across different land use pattern， with that under forest land being the highest. Certain agroforestry practices should be implemented to increase the water infiltration capacity of agricultural red soils to conserve soil and water.