Dongbei, Manchukuo, Manchuria: Territory, artifacts, and the multiple bodies of sovereignty in Northeast Asia

Abstract

Evaluations of the state of sovereignty typically resonate with the unified singularity of a nation-state apparatus. In reality, a state’s juridico-political boundaries seldom match its proclaimed territory. This is especially true in times of political turmoil when multiple powers claim ownership over the same region. One state’s boundaries may include a territory overlapping with that of another state, and one geographical region may involve plural claims of sovereignty. This chapter examines such conditions through the lens of material culture studies, with a focus on the contested northeastern region of China. Three case studies, dating to the period between the 1920s and 1950s, reveal differently constructed claims of sovereignty that propelled different bodies of sovereignty carried out in the hands of Chinese, apanese, and American researchers.