The Yangtze River is the mother river of the Chinese nation. It plays a crucial role in ecological functions and economic and social development. Dr. Dianchang Wang, from the National Engineering Research Center of Eco-environment in the Yangtze River Economic Belt of China Three Gorges Corporation, led a research team to unveil the evolutionary characteristics of the water ecological pattern in the Yangtze River Basin from multiple dimensions, taking the past century as a temporal perspective. They identified different evolutionary stages of the basin’s water ecological pattern and their driving mechanisms, and proposed water system governance strategies for the new era that aim at harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.