[Objective] Soil moisture has an important impact on N₂O emissions. This study attempted to simulate the cumulative process of soil N₂O emission under different soil moisture conditions by using a mixed dynamic equation, and to analyze the influence of soil water on N₂O production pathway and its variation rule in order to provide theoretical and practical guidance for reducing N₂O gas emissions through improving soil management. [Methods] Soil N₂O emission characteristics, the dynamics of ammonium and nitrate nitrogen content, and oxygen consumption were studied under different soil moisture conditions [40% water-holding capacity (WHC), 60% WHC, 80% WHC, 100% WHC, and flooded]. [Results] ① The N₂O emission rates reached maximum values at 24 h. Emissions from the flooded treatment [3.46 μg/(kg·h)] were 54.5-178.9 times greater than from the other treatments. ② The cumulative emission of soil N₂O increased with increasing incubation time, and the rapid rise stage occurred in the first 48 h for the flooded treatment. The rapid rise stage occurred in the first 96 h for other treatments. The cumulative N₂O emissions for soil under the flooded treatment (44.6 μg/kg) were 67.1, 29.2, 20.8, and 10.4 times greater than under 40% WHC, 60% WHC, 80% WHC and 100% WHC, respectively, at the end of incubation. ③ Except for the coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.878 for the pseudo-second-order dynamic equation under the flooded treatment, all coefficients of determination were greater than 0.920 for all dynamic equations under all soil moisture treatments. The denitrification process accounted for 9.3%~13.2% of the N₂O emissions, and the nitrification process accounted for 86.8%~90.7% of the N₂O emissions at the initial 24 h of incubation. At the end of incubation (480 h), the denitrification process accounted for 37.8%~47.5% of the N₂O emissions, and the nitrification process accounted for 52.5%~62.2% of the N₂O emissions. [Conclusion] The higher the soil moisture content, the greater the emission of N₂O, and an emission rate pulse appeared at 24 h. N₂O was mainly generated by denitrification under flooded conditions. N₂O was mainly generated by nitrification under the 40%~100% WHC conditions. The mixed dynamic equation was able to well simulate the cumulative emission process of soil N₂O during the incubation experiment, and can be used to distinguish the amount and proportion of N₂O emissions occurring by denitrification and nitrification processes. These results provide a new idea and method for studying the pathways of soil N₂O production and emission. The results need to be further verified by field experiments and isotope tracing methods etc.