ABSTRACT
Many ethnologists are critical of how the Chinese state defines ethnic categories, pointing to the arbitrary nature of its categorization. 1 Chinese scholarly literature often contributes to and reproduces categories by tracing the cultural and historical origin of ethnic people. Intentionally or otherwise, the literature, through its quest for an origin, seeks out what is natural, fundamental, and unchanged in the notion of ethnicity. The adaptation taking place through immigration, fusion, and development has yet to change the perception that ethnic categories are authentic. In contrast, scholarly literature in English typically attends to these adaptive practices and the contradiction between the adapted people and the state’s portrayal of them. 2 It recognizes that the genetic composition of many minorities must have changed after generations of migration and intermarriage.
