Three Gorges assisted Yu the Great in controling the waters and guiding boatmen. The Xiling Gorge comprises a series of famous gorges, including Military Book and Sword Gorge, Yellow Cow Gorge, and Lantern's Shadow Gorge. In 1919, after Sun Yat-sen had put forward the concept in the Plan for Industrial Development of his (), experts investigated damming the Three Gorges, but it was not until 1994 that the Three Gorges project officially started. In 1944, the Nationalist government recruited John L. Savage, the Chief Engineer of the United States Bureau of Reclamation, who came to China and made a 10-day investigation of
Three Gorges Reservoir Region for the whole main stream of the Yangtze River. Since the conditions of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region for the development of the water resources are good with a short distance to the load center, there is great potential for development of the water resources. The agricultural resources of the Three Gorges Region are abundant, which are superior for the agriculture, forestry, livestock, sideline production and fishery. The Three Gorges Reservoir Region is proper for the growth of the various plants of both the warm temperate zone and the temperate zone. Dozens of ores have been explored and investigated in