Extensive research into the changing sediment load throughout the Yangtze River (Changjiang) basin has been completed over recent years,and it provides an ongoing example of how to evaluate the consequences of natural and anthropogenic impacts on sediment processing in a very large fluvial system.This paper reviews these recent studies and critically assesses their findings regarding changes in sediment yield,load (both spatial and temporal variations),grain size,and rating curves,as well as the morphodynamic response of the channel and delta.