Abstract: The deformation is suffered by shearing when the natural soils are in some strain constraints. The experimental results show that a constant strain increment ratio path in soils will lead to a constant stress ratio for any initial stress state. These states are called the asymptotic ones. The shearing deformation mechanism of the soils in the asymptotic state is analyzed. The stress ratio in the asymptotic state is affected by a volumetric strain increment ratio which controls the dilatancy of the soils. The equation, used to calculate the stress ratio in the asymptotic state, is developed to three-dimensional stress state based on the generalized nonlinear strength criterion. This equation is called the three-dimensional asymptotic state criterion. The comparison between the test results and criterion calculation is analyzed.