Manure is now widely used for C sequestration and fertility improvement in black soils of Northeast China. In order to explore the mechanisms underlying the responses of N₂O emissions to manure application, the experiment was set up at two nitrogen levels (0 and 100 mg/kg), without manure application and six manure-added treatments were set by adding various kinds of composts, resulting in 14 treatments in total. N₂O fluxes was measured during the whole incubation period (365 d) and the properties and compositions of manure were analyzed. It is showed that the application of manure promotes N₂O emissions in general, especially under N100 treatment. However, there are significant differences in the effects of different manures and at different incubation stages. The rapid response of N₂O emission to manure application at the early stage is mainly attribute to the input of inorganic N of manure, but the labile organic C and lignin phenols may reduce N₂O emissions by co-metabolism that can promote microbial N immobilization. Subsequently, celluloses and hemicelluloses become the key factors for manure in regulating N₂O emission that are negatively related to N₂O emissions without N addition; while, N addition may promote the decomposition of lignin vanillyl which can facilitate N release from nitrogenous organic matter and N₂O production. Overall, the study suggests that the chemical compositions of manure affect the decomposition process and thus regulate N₂O emission, which should be taken into account in developing measures to improve the SOC and fertility of black soils by manure application.