The migration and accumulation of water during soil freezing， a crucial step of frost damage， has always been a frontier and important topic in the research of frozen soil physics. Since the golden age of water migration research for frozen soil in the 1970s and 1980s， there has been no major breakthrough in classical theory and scientific cognition. Many mechanical problems and key bottleneck problems involved in water migration in freezing soil still cannot be answered accurately. The damage and engineering problems related to frost heave haven’t been completely solved until now. Because of its variability， microcosm and mutation， the phase transition zone （frozen fringe） is still a “black box” in the study of water-heat transport in freezing soils. This paper reviews development history， main research progress and current situation of the research on the driving force and process of moisture migration in freezing soil， and then analyzes the physical principle and basic law of pore-water pressure and soil-water potential related to moisture migration in freezing soil. We also summarize the latest progress and main scientific problems in the theoretical characterization and experimental tests of pore-water pressure and soil-water potential， and analyze three popular theories of the moisture migration， namely capillary-， film-， and vapor-water migration theory. This paper summarizes the key bottleneck problems that restrict the breakthrough of scientific cognition for moisture migration in freezing soil and looks forward to the focus and direction in future research. The research suggests that followings should be focused on in future： 1） Strengthening the invention of instruments and the application of new technologies. 2） Focusing on the physical essence and accurate dynamic monitoring of the driving force of moisture migration. 3） Further understanding of the micro process and mechanism of the moisture migration. 4） More attention should be paid to the process of heat-mass transport and ice-water phase change from the perspective of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. 5） The development of multi-physics coupling simulation and the construction of autonomous open-source computing platform. The purpose of this paper is to systematically review current situation and future research direction， and then promote the development and improvement of the basic theory in the heat-mass transport of freezing soil， and better serve the solution of freezing-thawing disasters and environmental problems in cold regions.