Abstract: The Three Gorges area ranging from Yi Chang to Chongqing is located at the upstream of the Yangtze River, where the geological hazards occur at a high frequency, especially the large scale landslides developed at the bank slopes along the river. These landslides are often characterized by their large volume, extensive distribution and great complexity, which often cause serious loss and casualty in the local areas. Therefore, it is very important to understand the formation and evolution history of these major landslides so that their future development can be predicted. The distribution of major landslides in the Three Gorges is mainly controlled by lithology, geological structures and slope geometry etc. The magnitude of landslides is evidently influenced by regional geological structures. The Three Gorges area has experienced a quick tectonic uplift of 100 m since 150 ka B.P with the maximum uplift velocity of 1 mma~(-1). The frequency distribution of landslides is accordant with the rate of the crust uplift. The incision to the river valley makes the bank slope unstable and causes landslides occur during the warm and wet climatic periods. It is concluded that the dynamic factors inducing large scale landslides in this area were the coupling process of the quick tectonic uplift and climate changes. Considering the strong rainfall is the dominating triggering factor, it is suggest that the relationship between the landslides and rainfall be studied systematically.