Based on fieldwork, archival research, and interviews, this book critically examines the building of modern Chinese discourse on a unified yet diverse Chinese nation on various sites of knowledge production. It argues that Chinese ideology on minority nationalities is rooted in modern China's quest for national integration and political authority. However, it also highlights the fact that the complex process of conceptualizing, investigating, classifying, curating, and writing minority history has been fraught with disputes and contradictions. As such, the book offers a timely contribution to the current debate in the fields of twentieth-century Chinese nationalism, minority policy, and anthropological practice.
"The book is clearly written, well researched and documented (based on fieldwork, archival research and interviews). This makes Guo Wu's study a fundamental contribution to historiography on its subject and an enriching reading for both scholars and advanced students of Asian Politics, China Politics and International Relations, in general. ... the work is timely in light of some recent events. Here it suffices to refer to the so-called Xinjiang Papers, a 400-page report, possibly leaked from a high level source within the Chinese Communist Party ... ." (Barbara Onnis, Asia Maior, asiamaior.org, Vol. 30, 2019)