Iron-containing polysilazanes (PSZI) were prepared by the amine displacement reaction along with heat-induced vinyl crosslinking reactions between Fe[N(SiMe 2 Vi) 2 ] 3 (Vi ¼ À ÀCH¼ ¼CH 2 ) and polysilazane containing À ÀSiÀ ÀVi (PVSZ). The PSZIs were converted into magnetic ceramics by the pyrolysis in N 2 . The ceramics produced were investigated by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope and vibrating sample magnetometer at room temperature. It was indicated that a-Fe is the only magnetic crystalline embedded in the amorphous Si/C/Nbased matrix from 500 to 9008C. Moreover, the sample prepared at 5008C showed few hysteresis at room temperature, consistent with the behavior of superparamagnetic particles, which was confirmed by the zero-field-cooled and field-cooled magnetization measurement. Additionally, the results indicated that the magnetic properties of the ceramics could be tuned by controlling the content of iron and the pyrolysis temperature. This flexibility may be advantageous for some particular magnetic materials applications.