THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION AND CHINA Zi Zhongyun (58) From its founding until its withdrawal from the Chinese mainland, the Rockerfeller Foundation kept on concerning itself with and investing in Chinese medical and cultural undertakings with perseverance and left its traces in nearly all the important fields it worked in. It should be affirmed that the Foundation played an active role in the first half of the 20th century when China was heading painstakingly towards modernization. Its pioneering work in China was motivated by the idealism and the Westcentered world outlook that dominated the American elite of that time. The undertaking it fostered and the "science and rationalism" it advocated on the whole adapted to the trend of social progress in China. However, its argument of a world centered on America and its strong sense of superiority were incompatible with the Chinese people's rising national consciousness.