Carburized/carbonitrized bearing elements

A rolling bearing intended for longer life by improving seizure resistance and wear resistance in the circumstances with slip contact or where lubricant tends to be exhausted, which is manufactured by applying carburization or carbonitridation to an Si-added material to disperse and precipitate carbides or carbonitrides containing Si or Si-X (X = one or more of Mn, Mo, and Cr) thereby improving the seizure resistance and the wear resistance by the self-lubrication effect thereof, the size of the carbides or carbonitrides being preferably 10 žm or less for preventing flaking, and the area ratio for the carbides or carbonitrides being preferably 1.0-30% for obtaining sufficient self-lubrication effect. The constituents of the steel is specified as being within the following ranges: C : 0.2wt% - 1.2wt%, Si : 0.5wt% - 1.5wt%; Mn : 0.1wt% - 1.5wt%, Cr : 2.5wt% or less and Mo : 1.5wt% or less.