History, tradition, culture, and superstition have played significant roles in influencing Chinese attitudes toward the mentally retarded. China's overwhelmingly rural, agricultural society has made it dependent upon a huge force of semi-skilled and unskilled labor, to which the retarded are capable of contribution. The stress on self-reliance, the import of everyone's potential contribution to societal efforts, adherence to the principles of normalization and integration for all persons, and the willingness of the Chinese family to assume much of the responsibility for the care of mentally retarded persons has enabled this population to become socially and vocationally successful, often being satisfactorily integrated into productive communal life. (Author)