To study the shear performance of reinforced concrete （RC） short columns strengthened with textile-reinforced high ductile concrete （TR-HDC）， six RC columns， including two control columns and four columns strengthened with TR-HDC， were designed. The effects of the shear span-to-effective depth ratio and the layers of textile on the failure mode， deformation， bearing capacity， and energy dissipation capacity of the specimens were compared and analyzed under low cyclic loading tests. The experimental results show that the use of TR-HDC can obviously improve the shear capacity of the RC short columns； TR-HDC works well with the original concrete column， and the deformation， bearing capacity， and energy dissipation capacity of the specimens are significantly improved after strengthening with TR-HDC； increasing the number of layers of textile can slightly increase the shear capacity of the member， but it can greatly enhance the energy dissipation and deformation capacity of the RC short column； when the shear span is relatively large， it is more beneficial to exert the mechanical properties of TR-HDC reinforcement materials. Based on the truss-arch model， a calculation method for the shear capacity of the RC short columns strengthened with TR-HDC is proposed. The calculation results are more accurate.