This groundbreaking study sheds light on the mechanisms of Chinese nation and state making. Closely examining the remaking of Qing Inner Asia as Chinese provincial territory in the late Qing and Republican periods, the author focuses on the efforts of warlords and local Chinese elites in creating the new Inner Mongolian province of Suiyuan.
Based on a wide reading of rarely-accessed sources, the book explores land reclamation, the growth of counties and other ways by which Suiyuan gained provincial substance. It also carefully traces the emergence of a new national discourse on Northwestern territory and demonstrates its importance in placing Suiyuan within the Chinese Republic.
More broadly speaking, Constructing Suiyuan offers comparative perspectives on the issues of space, territoriality and possession of place.