Abstract: Tuned liquid dampers (TLDs) are effective measures for vibration reduction of high-rise buildings. In this paper, shaking table test study on a large scale shallow water rectangular tank was conducted and the equivalent linearization accuracy of the tuned liquid damper was analyzed. The tank reaction force and frequency response function of the target tank were obtained under 0.6~1.4 times of the fundamental frequency simple harmonic excitation load in steady state vibration. The water's sloshing frequency deviation under different vibration amplitudes was measured. The additional damping ratio of the tank under free vibration decays with five different damping device conditions. The equivalent linearization of TLD was discussed. The tank reaction force and hysteresis curve calculated by the equivalent linearized model were compared with the test results. The roof acceleration of a 249 m high building under wind and earthquake loads were used as test excitation. The results show that the equivalent linearized model with the maximum deformation cut-line stiffness as the equivalent stiffness and the damping ratio determined by the equal energy method is basically feasible. The result under simple harmonic and wind loads is more accurate, while more deviations are observed under seismic loads. The experimental results may provide a basis for the design of similar tuned liquid dampers.