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2. For a detailed history of the CAS membership, see Cao, Cong, “The changing dynamic between science and politics: evolution of the highest academic honor in China, 1949–1998,” Isis, Vol. 90, No. 2 (1999), pp. 298–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3. Others passed away, except Fang Lizhi, whose membership was revoked for his alleged involvement in the Tiananmen Square Incident of 1989.

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6. Biographical information on CAS members was drawn from the following sources: Zhongguo keyuan yinghua lu (Elite in Chinese Science), 2 vols. (Beijing: Kexue puji chubanshe, 1985 and 1988)Google Scholar; 1991 Nian Zhongguo kexueyuan xuebu weiyuan (1991 Academic Division Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) (Zhejiang: Zhejiang kexue jishu chubanshe, 1993)Google Scholar; Kexue (Science), Vol. 46, No. 5–6 (1994)Google Scholar; Vol. 47, No. 1–3 (1995); Zhongguo kexue bao (China's Science News), overseas edition, 26 02 1996, p. 6Google Scholar; Jiaxi, Lu (ed.), Zhongguo xiandai kexuejia zhuanji (Biographies of Contemporary Chinese Scientists), 6 vols. (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1991–1994)Google Scholar; Zhongguo kexueyuan xuebu lianhe bangongshi (General Office of the Academic Divisions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) (ed.), Zhongguo kexue yuan yuanshi zishu (Autobiographical Notes of Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) (Shanghai: Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe, 1996).Google Scholar These sources are reliable because of the participation of the CAS members themselves. Despite the incompleteness in some entries, the data set as a whole is the most comprehensive. In addition, interviews with 79 CAS members were conducted in China between October 1995 and February 1996, and between October and November 1997.

7. China's elites in the fields other than science have been a subject of intensive scholarly research. See, for example, Goldstein, Avery, “Trends in the study of political elites and institutions in China,” The China Quarterly, No. 139 ( 1994), pp.714–730CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Li, Cheng and White, Lynn III, “The army in the succession to Deng Xiaoping,” Asian Survey, Vol. 33, No. 8 (1993), pp. 757–786Google Scholar; Zang, Xiaowei, “Provincial elite in post-Mao China,” Asian Survey, Vol. 31, No. 6 (1991), pp. 512–525CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Zang, Xiaowei, “Ethnic representation in the current Chinese leadership,” The China Quarterly, No. 153 (1998), pp. 107–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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16. Bin, Zhang, Cong Zhejiang kan Zhongguo jiaoyu jindaihua (On the Modernization of Chinese Education by Using Zhejiang as an Example) (Guangzhou: Guangdong jiaoyu chubanshe, 1996), p. 109.Google Scholar

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26. Ibid. p. 126.

27. Ibid. pp. 54–57, 100–104, 130–133.

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29. The exception has been some rural areas where the door has firmly shut by the communist regime with the persistent unwillingness of the central government to fund rural education and the economic underdevelopment in these areas.

30. Interview with a CAS member in space technology (Beijing, 1996).

31. Interview with a CAS member in quantum chemistry (Beijing, 1996).

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38. It is speculated that the socio-economic status and/or educational level of these mothers' families were higher.

39. Interview with a CAS member in mineralogy and a CAS member in mechanics (Beijing, 1996).

40. Interview with a CAS member in theoretical physics (Beijing, 1995).

41. Interview with a CAS member in quantum chemistry (Shanghai, 1995).

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45. His cousin was elected a CAS member in 1980, while his cousin's husband became a CAS member in 1957. Interview with a CAS member of theoretical physics (Beijing, 1995).

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