Abstract: The theory of “shuren society” has been applied widely， but it has gradually become stereotyped due to the absence of indicators for measurement. This study used the method of social network analysis to recheck the strong ties and weak ties in the interpersonal interactions in a natural village in a mountainous region， South Anhui Province. It was found that the social networks among the villagers in the natural village depended upon indirect connections; that there were many isolated individuals in the networks with strong ties but with high risks of rupture in the entire network system; that isolated individuals virtually did not exist in the networks with weak ties， hence lower risk of rupture in the entire system. Under such circumstances， even living in natural villages， it was still relatively hard for the villagers to get to know one another really well. In this study， this social characteristic was conceptualized as weak shuren society.

Key words: interaction, Shuren society, social network, strongties, weakties