The Atlas of Palaeogeography of China was published in 1955. This paper will introduce the impor- tant historical background of the compilation and publishing of the atlas. Actually it was a direct outcome of the famous Main geological structural units of China written by Huang Jiqing in 1945. Confined by the status of geological development of that stage, the atlas mainly presents the variation of the distribution of old landmasses and oceans during different geological stages. The compilation was based on facies types, palaeontological species , and features of regional fauna assemblages . The basic scale of the atlas was 1:1 000 000. There are totally 20 maps, spanning from the Sinian to Triassic of the Mesozoic. The compila-tion was finished in more than three years. The outline of landmasses and oceans, main direction of trans-gression and regression, distribution of fossils, crustal deformation, mineral deposits, as well as volcanic and glacial activities are shown with various patterns and
