Abstract: Village dispute is one manifestation of the temporary imbalance of village order， which temporarily changes the original order in the countryside and induces the participants’ desire for interest game around which the parties concerned take technical， relational and strategic actions. In such a dispute， three levels of resources are networked， whose modes， characteristics and means of dispute settlement are varied. The key to decreasing village disputes lies not only in making the institutional arrangements (mandatory power)， but also in activating the endogenous resources (basic power) of maintaining rural order.

Key words: village dispute, rite and law, village order