Scholarship on rural society in Ming-Qing has long focussed on the lineage and popular religion. In this paper, the author integrates rural lineage organization and popular religion into the study of traditional village social networks in order to provide an impression of social change. It is based on a case study of Guanlong township, Chenghai county, Chaozhou in Guangdong. It makes extensive use of local gazetteers, genealogies, stone inscriptions and oral history. The paper uses the concept of power to explore the history of changing relations of dominance and subordination among village and lineage groups as expressed through popular religious rituals and cults. It also analyzes the factors causing these changes in the hope of better understanding local history and cultural transformation.
