Abstract:The purpose of village governance is to provide public goods,cultivate modern citizens and promote the construction of state power. The phenomenon of villages governed by the rich originated from the transformation of the state and the change of the local society,which illustrates the evolution of rural governance. Village-level governance presents oligarchic features in the aspects of authoritative structure,resource allocation and profittaking. Gray interest production,elite alliance and political asylum structure contribute to reproduction of the oligarchy of village governance. Benefit from external input and the rural weak community are fundamental for the shaping of oligarchic village. The “oligarchy” of village governance defines the essential characteristics of rural political practice in the era of source distribution to rural areas. The relative solidification of oligarchic village breaks down the basic goal of village governance. Confronted by the prevalence of oligarchy in village governance,the rural revitalization strategy proposes to advocate the modernization of ability and democracy construction in village governance,which presents a profound and direct challenge to county-based local governance.