This paper is an analytical frame for studying Chinese lineage in the countryside of North China.The author pay more attention to the lineage in daily life and try to put the lineage under the background of the Chinese traditional culture and of the complicated relationship among the state,the local government and the peasants.This paper shows how the elite of the lineage deal with the great social change after 1949 to defend their invested interest because of the existence of political space of freedom and shows why the governmenta has to select village cadres among them.Since the Party′s goal has been changed after 1978,the criteria for selecting village cadre have been changed too.The cadre′s ability to finish the task from their superior is stressed by the local government.So though the elite who is village cadres plays the multipe roles(the state agent,the scarecrow of the community and the representative of family and lineage)at the same time just as before,but now they can incline more to their community and the their family and lineage.
