Reconciling Peoples and Places: Perpetual Re-interpretation in Perceptions of Social and Cultural Identities in Northeast China

Abstract Genesis and development of ethnic and national identities have been topics of continual interest and importance for historical research but, as taken for granted, may obscure the similarities between populations now recognized as separate groups and blur social and cultural boundaries between distinct sub-groups within a community. This article explores how the scope and application of identities as determined by “place” and by “people” as well as a combined emphasis on both place and people have evolved in the modern history of Northeast China, with broader implications for the study of Asia through comparison with other regions of the world.