Despite never travelling to China, in 1735 the Jesuit historian Jean-Baptiste du Halde published what was then one of the most significant European accounts of the country. Drawn from seventeen printed and unpublished accounts by Jesuit missionaries which contained translations of Chinese texts, the work was first published in Paris before being reprinted in the Netherlands the following year. This third edtion of the English translation by the surgeon Richard Brookes was published in 1741.

The work described the history and geography of China, detailing all aspects of Chinese society and commerce. It served as the premier source of European knowledge of China for much of the eighteenth century.