ABSTRACT
Science and technology were to be the foundation of a new Chinese society erected over the remains of a crumbling civilization. Science and technology were more than the means of revitalizing the Chinese economy; as new sources of thought and behavior they became ends in themselves. In modern China, as in traditional China, relations of power and authority play a major role in determining patterns of change. Technological development does not occur in a political vacuum, for the assimilation of new technologies always reflects the goals, procedures, and values that have been created by the political process. New technologies and the manner of their assimilation can fundamentally alter the configuration of Chinese society and disrupt many cultural patterns, including many of those that are distinct to a Communist order. An important goal of technological development should therefore be the incorporation of the countryside into the national political and economic system.
