Abstract: This paper describes in outline form the dual system of “official” and “popular” administration, existing during the Ming and Qing periods, to regulate lower-level society. It conducts a detailed inquiry into the latter system in particular- that is, clans, villages, village compacts, association and guilds, as well as their social functions, economic foundations, and culture activities. This article suggests a new interpretation: the fact that the government was able to integrate diverse forms of popular social administration and organization, shows that feudal society was already adapting to changes in the social milieu(marketization, population mobility, and the examination system).