Abstract: Rural governance is an important component of national governance. The evolution of rural governance in ancient China shows that the Xiang-Li administrative structure (dual), relying on patriarchal organizations, combining with a design of neighborhood supervision and mutual aid mechanism are the common forms of rural governance. In fact, rural governance involves in five important tasks, namely, counting registered residence, organizing production, collecting tax and arranging corvee, maintaining order and peace, and educating the people. The continuous deepening of government control at the primary level, the institutionalization of township conventions and township officials are important trends in evolution, featuring an interaction between the state and communities. The traditional rural governance model has a profound impact on the current innovation of rural governance in China as it provides important insights by balancing the traditional governance culture that relies on Confucian concepts and legal provisions and the needs of the times, official engagement and social autonomy, and promoting national construction and consolidating primary-level foundation. Such a trend that features interaction or integration in rural governance and primary-level governance, as we look into its future, will become more prominent.

Key words: rural governance, social governance, primary-level governance, interaction between the state and communities