The reactive characteristic of Yangcun coal in the initial stage of a direct coal liquefaction process was studied by using a 17-mL microautoclave reactor It showed that, besides the contribution of hydrogen-donation, the pressure itself of H-2 was even more important to coal liquefaction. A two-stage liquefaction scheme composed of quick coal liquefaction at a high temperature (490 degrees C, 3 min) and common catalytic coal liquefaction (400 degrees C, 120 min) successively was designed. The total conversion of Yangcun coal (containing 11.8% fusinite) reached 90.9%, and the product distribution was: gas 8.9%, oil 53.2%, asphaltene 24.5%, and preasphaltene 4.3%.