Abstract: Based on the theory of soil-arching effects, the inclinations of sliding surface and the active earth pressure ratios are obtained under various friction angles of backfill and wall-soil friction. The results are adopted in the analysis of the active earth pressure against the rigid retaining wall undergoing horizontal translation by means of the differential level layer method. The expressions for the active earth pressure, active earth resultant force and loading point are derived. Compared with the theoretical solutions of Coulomb, Paik, Ying Hongwei, Zhang Ruiwen and results of physical model tests, the present simulations match better with the physical model tests than the other theoretical solutions. The calculated earth resultant forces are smaller than those of Paik and Ying Hongwei and larger than those of Zhang Ruiwen. The location of loading point of the resultant force is higher than that of Paik and Ying Hongwei. The lateral earth pressure coefficient is approximately equal to that of Paik and Ying Hongwei.