Constructing and representing Chinggis Khaan in the museum contexts of Mongolia and China

Abstract

This article examines the construction and representation of Chinggis Khaan in museum contexts in Mongolia and China from an anthropological perspective. Museums are approached not merely as spaces for preserving historical artifacts but as dynamic institutions where memory politics, national imagination, and the intersection of culture and state power shape collective understandings of the past. In Mongolia, exhibitions at the National Museum of Mongolia present Chinggis Khaan as a national hero and a symbol of political legitimacy and unity, emphasizing continuity in national history. In contrast, the Chinggis Khaan Mausoleum in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, functions as a multi-scalar space, highlighting both the Chinese state's narrative of ethnic unity and the local Mongolian community's cultural heritage. The study demonstrates that the museum representation of Chinggis Khaan does not simply preserve historical memory but actively mediates contemporary political authority, cultural identity, and collective memory, revealing the museum as a powerful instrument in shaping national and regional consciousness.