客家作為一種人群分類想像，有其特殊的歷史形成脈絡。18世紀中期以來，從土客械鬥到太平天國，外在推力促使著人們團結起來凝聚客家的想像認同。想像認同的形成，除了需要有凝聚群體認同基礎的客家論述，另一個重要關鍵則是各地客屬組織團體的成立，以及團體間的合作串連。香港崇正總會自1920年代成立以來，就是一個由學者與客籍商人所共同組成的團體，對於世界客屬想像的形成與推動扮演重要的關鍵角色。學者羅香林提出客家作為純種漢人歷經五大遷徙之神話；胡文虎推展香港與南洋各地客屬團體間的串連；1970年代後，黃石華更進一步積極推動各國客家團體的成立與串連，並大力資助推展客家研究。歷史社會結構的事實，加上重要行動者的論述與行動，共同促成了世界客屬想像的形成。

This paper explores the history through which Hakka people united and defined their identity. It shows the processes wherein Hakka discourse, the establishment of Hakka organizations, and the linkages within them enhanced the imagination of Hakka world. Firstly, the Tsung Tsin Association of Hong Kong, founded in the 1920s by Hakka scholars and merchants, played a fundamental role in promoting such imagination. In addition, Luo Xiang-lin contributed to the imagination by proposing a theory on the origin of Hakka people, and Aw Boon-haw promoted it by connecting the Hakka associations between Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. After the 1970s, Huang Shih-hua made considerable attempts to link the international Hakka organizations and sponsored Hakka Studies. The discourses proposed and the actions initiated by these crucial actors resulted in a specific formation of Hakka imagination.