The evolution of incipient soot particles has been examined by high resolution electron microscopy (HRTEM) and elemental analyzer in ethylene-air inverse diffusion flames. Laser Induced Incandescence(LII) and laser scattering methods were introduced for examining the soot volume fraction and morphological properties in combustion generated soot qualitatively. Soot particles, collected by thermophoretic sampling, were analyzed by using HRTEM to examine the nano structure of precursor particles. HRTEM micrographs apparently reveal a transformation of condensed phase of semitransparent tar-like material into precursor particles with relatively distinct boundary and crystalline which looks like regular layer structures. During this evolution histories, C/H analysis was also performed to estimate the chemical evolution of precursor particles. The changes of C/H ratio of soot particles with respect to residence time can be divided into two parts: one is a very slowly increasing regime where tar-like materials are transformed into precursor particles (inception process) the other is an increasing region with constant rate where surface growth affects the increase of C/H ratio dominantly (surface growth process). These results provide a clear picture of a transition to mature soot from precursor materials.