Objective This study was designed to explore the distribution of soil shear strength under different vegetation restorations types in the erosion area of Benggang in southern Jiangxi, and to clarify the influence of soil basic properties on shear strength after restoration.Method The surface soil of various parts of the Benggang under three different vegetation types was used as our research object. We analyzed and studied the changes in soil basic properties and the change characteristics of shear strength parameters and their influencing factors using Path analysis and principal component analysis.Result The results showed that the shear strength from high to low was forest > arboreal forest > scrubland > grassland > erosion area, and the soil shear strength of arboreal forest was 29.74% higher than that of scrubland. As the terrain decreases, the capillary pores were increasing, and the proportion of fine particles such as clay particles and powder particles was also increased and converged under the lower slope. Moreover, the soil nutrient content was gradually increased as the recovery time increased. The cohesion of Benggang soil showed an increasing trend as the recovery period increased while the internal friction angle showed a slowly decreasing trend, and reached the maximum on the upper slope. Importantly, the cohesive force had a very significant correlation with organic matter and saturated hydraulic conductivity, and the internal friction angle also had a significant correlation with water content and bulk density. The total pores, capillary pores, clay content and soil saturated hydraulic conductivity were selected to characterize the shear strength of the soil undersaturation and a prediction equation (R² = 0.80, RMSE = 5.95) was established, and it showed high reliability in prediction accuracy.Conclusion The research results reveal the control factors of shear strength under different vegetation types, which can provide a certain reference for soil restoration processes in the southern Benggang eroded area.