Jacques-Nicolas Bellin the elder (1703–1772) joined the "Dépôt des Cartes et Plans de la Marine" in 1721, at the age of 18, one year after it had been established, as the first "Ingénieur hydrographe de la Marine", a post he held until his death in 1772. Bellin's cartographic and hydrographic output was enormous, and his maps were copied throughout Europe for decades. In addition to the important maps included in the Abbé Prévost's epic 25-volume travel narrative, the 'Histoire des Voyages', he produced 'Le Neptune Françoise' (1755) and 'Le Petit Atlas Français' (1763), reissued as 'Le Petit Atlas Maritime' in 1764.

Among the many maps prepared for the 'Histoire des Voyages' was the present chart showing north eastern swathes of China, parts of southern Mongolia, Korea, shown as a peninsula, and the East Sea ("Mer de Corée") separating it from Japan. Based on English sources, it is intended to illustrate the Mongol empire of Genghis Khan, the maps shows the historic capital of Karakorum and parts of the Great Wall. Rivers, mountains and inland bodies of water are shown across the map, and towns, cities and islands are labelled by name.