###### Abstract
[14] studied the acoustic emission (AE) activity characteristics of shale under uniaxial compression and found that as the bedding inclination angle increased from 0\({}^{\circ}\) to 90\({}^{\circ}\), the proportion of shear events in the shale decreased, while the proportion of tensile events increased. [PERSON] et al. [15] studied the anisotropy of energy evolution in shale that was subjected to triaxial compression and found that the total energy, elastic energy, and dissipated energy were all minimized when the angle between the bedding plane and the maximum principal stress surface was 60\({}^{\circ}\). In studying uniaxial cyclic loading and unloading, [PERSON] et al. [16] found that the maximum irreversible deformation of shale occurred when the angle between the bedding plane and the maximum principal stress surface was 45\({}^{\circ}\), and that the compressive strength of shales with different bedding angles decreased to varying degrees under cyclic loading and unloading conditions. [PERSON] et al. [17] found that the bedding inclination angle significantly affected the mechanism and energy release rate of fractures in shale under uniaxial cyclic loading and unloading. [PERSON] et al. [18] found that the failure mode of cracked shale was generally mixed under triaxial cyclic loading, and that the compressive strength of the shale increased after multiple cycles. [PERSON] et al. [19] studied the effects of triaxial cyclic loading and unloading on the compressive strength of shale. They found that when the bedding plane dominates the shale failure, the effect of cyclic loading and unloading on the failure mode is weakened. [PERSON] et al. [20] studied the fracture characteristics of shale under pore water pressure and triaxial cyclic loading and unloading and found that shear failure was the main failure mode in shale, with axial cyclic loading and unloading leading to the development of complex secondary fractures. [PERSON] et al. [21] studied the deformation characteristics of shale under triaxial constant-amplitude cyclic loading and found that the deformation modulus and Poisson's ratio fluctuated violently near failure. [PERSON] et al. [22] conducted triaxial cyclic loading and unloading tests on shale under different confining pressures and found that the confining pressure has little effect on the distribution ratio of pre-peak energy parameters but has a certain enhancing effect on the post-peak energy accumulation ability of shale. In summary, there is currently no consensus on the effects that cyclic loading and unloading have on the compressive strength, elastic modulus, and failure mode of shale at different bedding angles. The anisotropic characteristics and weakening mechanisms of shale under triaxial incremental cyclic loading and unloading remain unclear, and in-depth research is still lacking. Therefore, in this study, triaxial monotonic loading and triaxial incremental tests were performed under three confining pressures (\(\sigma_{3}\)) and bedding inclination angles (\(\theta\)) to analyze the anisotropic characteristics of the mechanical behavior, AE activity, and energy evolution in shale, allowing the mechanism by which shale anisotropy is weakened to be revealed. The results provide experimental support and a theoretical basis for safer and more efficient construction in shale underground engineering.