Toward the Sea or the Land Cultural Identity and the Choice of Direction of Movement on the Water

Archaeology, linguistics, and genetics have proved that Austronesian originated in mainland China. With the background of the spread of Austronesian from the southeastern coast of mainland China to the Pacific Ocean, this paper discusses the spatial movement characteristics of human beings from land to sea through their judgment of the natural environment in the non-navigational device era of 7,000-5,000 years ago. Regarding methodology, the optimal area of human movement from land to sea was modeled using a geographic information system (GIS). As a result, part of the movement area passed through Liangdao, where human remains were found 8,400 years ago, thus increasing the method's validity. The paper finally constructs a three-layer “land-coast-sea” movement model. By stripping away economic trade, science, and technology, this paper provides a model of maritime mobility based on a purely “human-environmental” approach, which is a pathway to understanding the origins and dispersal of early human populations, a foundational scenario for further understanding of cultural identities and spatial activity, and a prerequisite for the construction of more complex maritime mobility.