Abstract: During the mid-nineteenth century, the ocean was an influent ial ?? commons, ?? but the coast was a typical “marginal zone.” In the territory of the Qing, the imbalance between the central government and its local representatives, the gentry, in the marginal zone lead to the difference in power between migrants and locals in the treaty port . The competition for power provided the impetus for migration. In the ocean “commons,” a limited order radiated outward from the port cities, but outside the limited zone of order, pirates, profiteers and typhoon determined the fate of migrants. Setting foot on foreign lands, Chinese people were strangers. They were once again in a marginal zone unprotected by the “umbrella” of citizenship. These arduous journeys were described in detail in Chinese Serial , which was published between August 1853 and May 1856. This article gleans a melange of monthly news across space and time from the Chinese Serial to reconstruct the lives of Chinese people in foreign countries. Socially, the difficult lives of Chinese immigrants were rooted in their perception as people mercilessly discarded by the Qing government. Secondly, the basic social organization of overseas Chinese, the tong , was the root of harsh, regular clashes between overseas Chinese and Western legal systems. Thirdly, the imbalance in sex rat io among overseas Chinese communities, not only contributed to their rootlessness in alien lands, but also caused many social problems. Longstanding racism and religious differences between Westerners and Chinese also intensified the clash. These cultural and social gulfs and clashes left Chinese immigrants with no space or discursive power in foreign lands.