Abstract: As social structure is changing, rural social governance faces the dual challenges of “weak public consciousness among farmers” and “a lack of public attributes”. This paper, through case study, finds that the village elites take advantage of villagers’ vernacular complex and ceramics culture to tap internal resources in the village and the new media’s integrative function, hold the cultural feasts through village gala and gradually cultivate the self-organization of rural culture. Such practices provides more possible room for governance innovation in rural community. The effective ways to promote rural social governance in the new era include: to promote the innovation of rural social governance mechanism with the guidance of party building; to give full play to governmental functions and to build triple linkage, an organic connection between communities, social organizations and social workers; to optimize the rural social governance structure, community public participation and public spirit cultivation.

Key words: village elite, farmers’ self-organization, social work, rural social governance