Shih Tien-fu, a professor of geography at National Taiwan Normal University, argues that it was natural for the Hakkas to settle in the hills because they already had experience on the mainland in building terraced rice paddies.
師大地理系教授施添福曾提出客家人「深耕」淺山，因為他們在原鄉就擁有開墾梯田的技術，很自然選擇山區扎根。