Abstract: The bird’s nest trade on the South China Sea was the product and embodiment of three interacting and integrating processes， representing three different but related world-systems of the late Chinese empire and its influence sphere， the European-centered industrial capitalist world-system, and the Chinese dominated trading network of the South China Sea. The demand for bird’s nests originated from the ontology and world logic of Chinese civilization, whereas the historical formation of the bird’s nest trading network rose from the expansion of the European-centric world system along the southern borders of the late Chinese empire. Its practical operation relied on the social organization of the Nanyang（the South China Sea） Chinese businessmen， immigration patterns and historical development. Currently， the bird’s nest trade and consumption are operated in accordance with the logic of industrialization and the materiality as understood and embodied by Hong Kong bird’s nest trade merchants. In this sense， bird’s nest trade is not only a product of the empires， but also a commodity of the world system， and at the same time， a representation of the historical experience and ongoing activities of the Nanyang Chinese. This study treats the bird’s nest trade as a merging process of multiple worlds from different centers and an integration between material and non-material elements of different production processes. Human production activities are both the result and cause of history.

Key words: bird’s nest, world system, Chinese of the South China Sea, value theory, materiality, production