Chinese History beyond borders: Conflicts and Integrations among South China Migrants

The turbulence in Taiwan and Hong Kong is not merely a contemporary issue—it is the continuation of a long South China history.

From the 17th to the 19th centuries, a "wind of transformation" swept across southern China, propelling the region toward modernity. This sweeping change was fueled by a "cross-border" movement arising from the interactions between Han and Hakka migrants and neighboring ethnic groups such as the Yao and Zhuang.
Tracing the roots of the Taiwan and Hong Kong issues, this book reveals how borderlands were transformed into emigrant homelands, and how the migrant experience became the driving force behind the global dispersion of the Chinese people. By centering migrants as its protagonists, the author vividly portrays the history of South China as one marked by both conflict and integration—through themes of livelihood (wan sik, 搵食), social conflict, imperial examinations, and secret societies.