Quercus forest is a typical forest type in Hu'nan Province, which plays an important role in water and soil conservation, and maintaining ecological stability. However, most of the natural regeneration of Quercus forest in Hunan is poor, because of limited research on Quercus regeneration mechanisms, and ineffective management. Based on field investigation data, we analyzed typical Quercus natural secondary forests in Hunan, and used k-means cluster analysis to classify forest types. In this research, we studied sapling regeneration characteristics of different Quercus natural secondary forests in Hunan and examined the correlation of the sapling regeneration index (density, average ground diameter, average height, and average crown width of saplings) with environmental and stand factors in different Quercus natural secondary forests in Hunan. This study aimed to provide a theoretical basis for the restoration and management of natural secondary forests of different Quercus species in Hunan Province. The results showed that the natural secondary forest of Quercus could be divided into five types by cluster analysis, including Castanopsis eyrie-Castanea henryi mixed forest (CC), Fagus lucida-Cyclobalanopsis multinervis mixed forest (FC), Lithocarpus glaber-Cinnamomum bodinieri mixed forest (LC), Quercus serrata-Castanopsis eyrie mixed forest (QC), and Cyclobalanopsis glauca mixed forest (CG). The dominant species and species richness of the regeneration forests of different types of Quercus secondary forests were significantly different(P < 0.05). The sapling density in five different secondary forests of Quercus was < 500 trees/hm², and sapling regeneration was poor. The number of saplings of different Quercus secondary forests was significantly different(P < 0.05), in the order of FC > LC > CG > QC > CC. The sapling growth status in different forests was significantly different(P < 0.05), and in the sequence of CG > FC > QC > CC > LC. The results of the correlation analysis showed that there were differences in the main factors affecting sapling regeneration in different types of secondary forests. In CC, there was a significant negative correlation between the sapling density and humus thickness(P < 0.05), a significant positive correlation between the average sapling height and shrub coverage(P < 0.05), and a significant positive correlation between the average sapling basal diameter and herbaceous and shrub coverage(P < 0.05). In FC, there was a significant positive correlation between sapling density and altitude, humus thickness, and litter thickness(P < 0.05), and a very significant positive correlation with herbaceous coverage(P < 0.01), a significant negative correlation between average ground diameter and canopy density(P < 0.05), and the average sapling height and crown width were significantly positively correlated with the slope position(P < 0.05). In LC, there was a significant positive correlation between sapling density and slope direction and soil thickness(P < 0.05), whereas the other factors had no significant effect on sapling growth. In QC, sapling density was extremely positively correlated with canopy and tree density(P < 0.01), and negatively correlated with slope position(P < 0.05), and the average sapling crown width was negatively correlated with slope(P < 0.05). In CG, the average sapling diameter was significantly positively correlated with soil thickness(P < 0.05), and had an extremely significant positive correlation with tree density(P < 0.01), and the average sapling crown width was positively correlated with shrub coverage(P < 0.05).