The soil carbon evolution was studied under a complete reclamation cycle in the Ji'ning coal mine area with the high groundwater level. The stratified sampling and laboratory anlaysis of the soil were carried out under the different reclamation cycles, including Land subsidence (M1), reclaimed land for 0 and 3 years (M2, M3) and normal cultivated land (M4), to study the total carbon (TC), soil organic carbon (SOC), soil organic carbon density (SOCD), organic carbon components (WDOC, POC, MOC, LFOC, HFOC and MBC) and stable isotopes (δ¹³C). The results showed:(1) The contents of TC, SOC, SOCD and organic carbon components in the subsided area were lower. After the reclamation, the SOCD returned to the level of normal cultivated land in the first year, and the TC and SOC contents were increased with the reclamation period. The recovery rates of components such as WDOC, POC, LFOC and MBC were faster, but the MOC and HFOC recovery periods were longer. (2) The recovery rates of TC, SOC, SOCD and organic carbon components gradually decreased with the increase of soil depth. (3) After reclamation, the δ¹³C mean difference was small at different soil depths, and the standard deviation and coefficient of variation were larger, indicating that the layers were not obvious in the reclaimed soil and the soil sources might be confused in the same layer. In conclusion, the reclamation work could promote the role of "carbon sinks", but it could cause damage to soil layer. It was suggested that the reclamation method that disturb the soil layer as little as possible should be adopted, and the topsoil stripping and backfilling process should be optimized so as to achieve better recovery effect.