In 1919 Mr Sun Yat-sen——the pioneer of the domestic revolution in China——wrote in the article the Practice Planning, “Go up from Yichang to the gorges, rapids and rocks are although the river, improve the upper part of the river and resist the water with the gate,so that ships can go against water following and the hydropower can be used.” In 1924, in the article democratism, he wrote again, “The hydropower of this section from Yichang to Wanxian can produce more than produce 3×103 horse power. If this power is made to work for us, we can get many products, China can change from poor to rich.” Mr Sun Yat-sen compounded the thought of developing the Hydroelectric resources of the Three Gorges with the mettle of a revolutionary.
According to the imagination of Sun Yat-sen, in October, 1932, under the proposal of the Construction Commission of National Government in Nanjing and the support of National Defensive Design Commission, the National Government organized a group-the Survey Group of the Hydropower generation at upper stretch of the Yangtze River. After two months' survey in the Three Gorges area, they wrote the Survey Report of the Hydropower Generation at upper stretch of the Yangtze River. In the report , they suggested that the dam which was 12.8 metres high with an installed capacity of 300,000kw,and with shiplocks should be built at Gezhouba, the upper part of Yichang, Hubei Province. The survey and the research was the first practical work to develop the hydroelectric resources of the Three Gorges.
In May, 1944, the Nanjing Government Resources Commission invited dam expert, the designer and engineer of American Cultivation Bureau, the most famous expert in the world——Dr.John L.Savage to come to China to investigate the Three Gorges. He led the group to Yichang, which was occupied by Japanese troops at that time, to do practical research. He wrote the Tentative Report on the plan of the Yangtze Three Gorges Project. Dr John L.Savage suggested that the dam should be set at the place which was 200 metres wide at the upper stretch of the Nanjingguan Pass. The height of the dam should be 225 meters with an installed capacity of 10,560,000kw.
It was more than 30 years from Mr.Sun Yat-sen's imagination to Dr Savage's Plan.Because of the condition of the society, politics, economy, science and technology,the plan was put aside. At that time, it was only a dream to construct the Three Gorges Project.
