Vegetation fire, as a significant disturbance factor in the Earth’s system, can have important impacts on Earth’s surface systems, such as the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, pedosphere, and anthroposphere. The various gases and aerosol particles released during vegetation fires not only affect the atmospheric environment, but also pose risks to human health. Extreme vegetation fires can cause serious casualties and economic loss. In recent years, under the influence of global warming, various extreme weather events have occurred frequently, and the risk of vegetation fire disasters has also significantly increased. Understanding the stages and mechanisms of modern vegetation fires is of great scientific significance for predicting future changes in vegetation fires, and is of great practical importance for formulating fire management strategies. This study provides an overview of the research progress on vegetation fires in China from the perspective of the evolutionary history of vegetation fires and modern vegetation fire regimes. The following basic understanding is obtained regarding the pattern of modern vegetation fires: First, from historical records, modern vegetation fires are currently at their most frequent period since the Holocene, and from the late 20th century to the present, even to the mid-21st century, vegetation fires in China show an overall upward trend. Second, vegetation fires in China are mainly agricultural fires with forest wildfires as a supplement, concentrated in spring and autumn, and are mainly distributed in northeastern, southwestern, eastern, and southern China, showing regional diversification characteristics under the influence of human activities and climate change. In the future, efforts should be made to strengthen the review of the details of historical changes in vegetation fires in China, elucidate the overall modern vegetation fire regime, and provide more accurate predictions of future changes in vegetation fires.