[Objective] The distribution characteristics of soil pressure on purple soil sloping farmlands bunds and its influencing factors were studied in order to provide basis for the optimal design, construction and maintenance of the purple soil sloping farmland bunds in the Three Gorges reservoir area and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.[Methods] Using soil bin simulation test, water was injected into the soil bin until the soil was basically saturated. Soil pressure was determined by static strain gauge, and soil moisture content was measured by drying method to analyze the variation characteristics of soil pressure under water attenuation.[Results] ① The soil pressure presented a nonlinear distribution with the increase of soil depth, which showed that the soil pressure initially increased with the increase of soil depth, reached the maximum at about 0.375 H from the bottom of the test device, and subsequently decreased with the increasing soil depth. ② Under the experimental conditions, the change of soil moisture content presented an approximate linear attenuation with time, and had a significant impact on the soil pressure(p<0.01), but there were some differences among different soil layers. ③ The interaction effect of soil depth and soil moisture content on soil pressure was significant(p<0.01).[Conclusion] The distribution of soil pressure show a non-linear trend on purple-soil sloping farmlands bunds in the Three Gorges reservoir area, the soil depth, soil moisture content and their interactive effects have significant effects on the soil pressure.