本文將重新檢視至今仍流傳於六堆地區客家聚落的拓墾傳說，著重於開基（開創基業）命題的敘事內容，試圖探討拓墾傳說是如何形構出「共同起源」（common origin）的歷史表徵（historical representation），用以定錨、開顯聚落本身的地方主體。具體來說，在民間文學的研究過程裡，經常將傳說中的人物、事件或環境的相關描述視為單純的分析文本，往往忽略了任何文本的產生都具有特定脈絡，尤其是六堆地區客家聚落的拓墾傳說即清楚地呈顯出不同聚落過去的時空樣態，提供了我們追尋歷史的線索。鑑此，本文將借助環境心理學（environmental psychology）對於空間的探索，實際運用三種空間概念（聚落方位、聚落水源與自然地景）作為切入視角，並且，輔以1904 年台灣總督府繪製的「台灣堡圖」（1898-1904）進行聚落空間的比對，藉以思考在特定的拓墾情境裡，客家先民是如何認知週遭環境，又是如何記憶聚落的過去？這不只可以凸顯六堆聚落與拓墾傳說之間高度密切的互動過程，也展現了六堆聚落拓墾傳說的重要意義及價值──既是聚落發展的歷史表徵，也是聚落成員的集體記憶──更重要的，透過這樣空間、文化與歷史的多重實踐，得以繼續凝聚、轉化或創造地方聚落的「共同起源」，扎下在地認同的根基。

This research is based on the documents about the cultivation legends of Liuk Tui hakka settlements to emphasize ＂Kai-Ji (meaning ＂founding＂ in Chinese)＂ stories for discovering how settlement legends have constructed the cultural context of historical representation of ＂common origin,＂ which is a subjectivity of place for pinpointing and revealing a community. To make it specific, critics of folk literature tend to regard characters, events, or places as a part in textual analysis, ignoring the context of literary production, especially that of the settlement legends. Therefore, this research will make use of environmental psychology theories, and three space concepts, settlement locations, water sources and natural landscapes, as standing point for observation, and, in addition, with the reference of Taiwan Fort Map drawn by Taiwan Governor-General Office in 1904 to compare texts and space, helping the readers understand the process of becoming between Liuk Tui settlement legends and making it accessible to figure out how Hakka ancestors became familiar with their life environment and how they evoked the memory of the past of villages. At the end of this research, it suggested that the importance of Liuk Tui settlement legends is its historical representation in the process of village development as well as its common memories of village members. The most important part is the space-cultural-historical practice like this enables to continuously reunite, convert or create the ＂common origin＂ of settlements.