The greater South China Sea (SCS) Basin is composed of basins of different generations and styles. These polyhistory basins formed in complicated geologic settings and evolved through different tectonic regimes. Based on a classical basin classification scheme and data from previous studies, we summarize the evolution of tectonic environments of the SCS in the Mesozoic–Cenozoic into a Late Triassic–middle Eocene divergent-convergent cycle and a late Eocene–present divergent-convergent cycle. The two cycles are in turn composed of four evolutionary phases, which are (1) Late Triassic–Middle Jurassic divergent continental margin setting, (2) Late Jurassic–middle Eocene convergent intracontinental setting, (3) late Eocene–Miocene divergent continental margin setting, and (4) Pliocene–present convergent continental margin setting. We identify temporal sequence and spatial distribution of major polyhistory basins in the SCS associated with the four basin evolutionary phases in the two tectonic cycles. Each basin corresponds to a specific pressure, space, and temperature, and overprinting of the basin caused changes in pressure, space, and temperature with time. Unraveling this complex and dynamic nature of the polyhistory basins can be instrumental in assessing the hydrocarbon potential and exploration risk in the SCS.