Based on the investigation of the ritual and customs practice of the elderly associations in P village in southern Shanxi,this article systematically explains the rapid development of the rural elderly associations in terms of external resource acquisition,activity space expansion,and subject acquisition. And according to the theory of embedding,the logic of action of the ritual practice of the elderly association is analyzed at three levels:“environmental embedding — organisational embedding — bilateral embedding”. The results show that there are three explanations for the rapid development of elderly associations:the first is obtaining external resources through the exploration and utilization of traditional ritual resources; the second is continuously expanding the activity space in the construction of legitimacy,organizational value and meaning; the third is obtaining a stable economic source by ritual and custom activities,and thus gaining the autonomy of the organization. The elderly associations were established in accordance with policy changes and the conscious awakening of the elderly. By embedding in local organizations and village governments,they built organizational identity and expanded the organization’s external influence. At the same time,by achieving bilateral embedding with the village Party branch and village committee,they gained continuous action power and promoted the stable development of elderly associations. Based on this,three basic conditions for the cultivation of rural social organizations are put forward,namely,obtaining encouragement and support from the state,realizing social welfare and mutual benefit,and having a source of continuous action.