This paper reconsiders a social change that French colonialism had driven to the northern Vietnamese villages in the early 20th century. Village in the Red River delta region had an overlapped administrative structure in the pre-modern period. Due to the old habits of decentralization and the State`s inability of manpower and finance, the village had the benefit of autonomous administration despite the repeated invention of the State. Being made through the guarantee of land taxes, poll tax, military service and corvee, the mutual concessions between the State and the village had given more lucrative benefits to the latter. Village autonomy had headed the village oligarchy corruptive and inefficient in everyday life of village administration. The French colonial authorities had carried out Cai luong huong chinh, the village administrative reform in order to support the Khai thac thuoc dia, even more emphasied mission in the colony. With the 3times of complimentary measures, the French drive was to draw the village into the State administrative system by means of the elimination of village notables, the set up of democratic polling system and the establishing of more overt village budget. However the result was controversial since it not only had to bring back the previous institutions of old administration but also had made progresses in debilitating the village oligarchy and in qualifying the new village officials by requiring the certificates of the Franco-Vietnamese school or the School of Secretary. Some primary sources form the Vietnam National Archives and form a long field research assist to conclude that the French were successful to change the tangible factors in the village administration but were unable to wash out the more fundamental nature of village autonomy. It is not just because the French were not prepared in manpower and financial mobilization like the Vietnamese feudal regimes. Rather it is more likely that the kinship (dong ho), the ethnocentricity and the selfish behaviors of Vietnamese villagers had blocked the French trial.