Abstract: According to experimental data,during the inclination process,the development of passive and active earth pressure inside the cylinder is closely related to the inner diameter of cylinder.For the cylinder with enough large inner diameter,the earth pressure distribution on front and back inner sides is similar to that of plane retaining wall.It is found that on outer side of cylinder,there is a bending point in the earth pressure distribution curve along cylinder axis.Based on this characteristic,this paper proposes that the buried large diameter cylinder rotates around a point which is below ground surface and above the bottom of the cylinder during the inclination process.And the location of the point is related to the state of earth pressure on front of cylinder.Direction of displacement and earth pressure of each point on the wall of the cylinder can be determined from the location of the rotation point,which will be used to set up a mathematical model for earth pressure distribution on the cylinder wall.Empirical formulas and distribution law of earth pressure around the circular cylinder are also presented.