By examining the structure of the basic relationship among public space in traditional Chaoshan settlements, this paper aims to explore the role and differences of the publicity of space in single- and multi-surname clan settlements, as well as the possibility of their growth and changes, so as to further seek the root trigger for the alienation of public space in modern clan villages. In terms of methods, by investigating the differences of public space forms in different clan settlements from the perspective of squeezing and balancing state of the public space boundaries, this paper analyses the state of the public space in traditional Chaoshan villages and presents it in a complex and folding form. The conclusion is that the public space in Chaoshan villages plays a key role in maintaining the balanced development of the paradigmatic relation, whether within single- or multi- surname clan settlements. However, in the course of history, the constant changes in the composition of the settlement groups and the transmutation and alienation of the public space mode then exert an influence to the inheritance of the orderly settlement traditions, clan relations, lifestyles, and "hometown" identity.