Pearl Buck in China

by Hilary Spurling

177 he persuaded her—My account of the Bucks’ return to Nanjing is based on PB, letter to EW, January 4, 1929; JLB, letter to Bucks, July 27, 1928, NSC; MSW, 235–39; reports to the Mission Board by A. R. Kepler in July 1927 and W. J. Drummond, October 29, 1927, both in PHS.

  178 Jack Williams’s grave ED, 166; PB, letter to EW, January 4, 1929, NSC.

  178 “Twenty families of refugees FA, 260.

  178 eighty-thousand farmers The Stubborn Earth: American Agriculturalists on Chinese Soil, 1898–1937, by Randall E. Stross, California, 1986, 175.

  179 “The Communists in China This and the next quote are from MSW, 243, 244; see also “The New Road” in FW.

  180 “these young men HD, 299.

  180 “They were arrested This and the next quote are from MSW, 248, 247.

  181 U. S. Department of Agriculture For JLB’s professional career, see JLB and Ardron B. Lewis interviews, NSC; note to p. 191 below.

  181 “I realize I must PB, letter to EW, January 4, 1929 NSC.

  182 “the hardest thing Margaret Bear interview, NSC. PB’s observations are in CWNG, 37–40.

  182 “These too were human beings CWNG 40. The next three quotes are from CWNG, 43, 45.

  182 “If I had known PC, 114, 399, n. 94.

  183 “I continually marvel PB, letter to EW, January 4, 1929, NSC. For the Vineland School and parting from Carol, see CWNG, 42–48; THi, 141.

  183 Grace Yaukey believed ED, 167; PB, letter to GY, September 3, 1931, Helen Snow interview, NSC.

  183 “it would not be fair PB, letter to Mission Board, June 10, 1929, NSC.

  184 “The house in Nanjing was empty MSW, 250.

  184 “The rains of late winter HD, 330–32.

  185 “That is, I think a Chinese intellectual PB, letter to EW, October 15, 1945, NSC.

  185 “its energy was the anger MSW, 250.

  185 “The Revolutionist,” Published in Asia, vol. 28, no. 9, September 1928, and as “Wang Lung” in FW.

  185 For “Lao Wang the Farmer,” see CR 57, April 1926, 237–44. For “Lao Wang’s Old Cow,” see CR 63, February 1932, 102–7.

  185 Shao Teh-hsing (Shao Dexin) 1894–1991 I am deeply indebted to Ye Gongping for piecing together Shao’s career (he changed his name to Shao Chang-hsiang, or Zhongxiang).

  186 “seemed to have been in her EDts.

  186 “sounds biblical but is pictorial This and the next quote are from Christine Lewis interview, NSC.

  186 “her speech presentation KL, 42.

  186 “One can hardly believe “Pearl S. Buck’s Reception in China Considered,” by Liu Haiping in Lipscomb et al., The Several Worlds of Pearl S. Buck, 60, 66, n. 20.

  186 “It was all on the tips of my fingers THii, 221.

  187 “there was no one else.” MSW, 255.

  187 “many years planned NS, 103; Lillieth Bates and GY interviews, NSC.

  187 East Wind, West Wind For its publishing history, see preface to FW and correspondence with Richard Walsh in NS, 103–5.

  188 “admiration, even awe James Thomson, in Lipscomb et al., The Several Worlds of Pearl S. Buck, 11; James Thomson interview, NSC.

  189 “It’s difficult to distinguish JLB, letter to Mission Board, December 3, 1930, NSC.

  189 two Chinese scholars I am grateful for this information to Prof. Liu Haiping, and Ye Gongping, whose source was Prof. David T. Roy of Chicago, a pupil of Zhao Yanan in 1949–50.

  189 “She could hear them talk John C. Ferguson, Quarterly Missive of Chinese Bibliography, vol. 1, National Library of Peiping, China, March 1934, 20.

  189 “In the Communists MSW, 251. The next quote is from MSW, 255.

  190 “It’s the papers and grades PB, letter to EW July 5, 1926; information from Prof. Liu Haiping.

  190 “I miss eternally the person CWNG, 55.

  190 “there was that great, greedy Mo, 125.

  190 “It was very specific GY interview NSC; see MSW, 256.

  190 “I simply cannot stand it PB, letter to EW September 17, 1933, NSC; see TN, 309.

  191 standing over her own bed—PC, 102, 397, n. 60.

  191 “open delight in the body PC, 117.

  191 “She turned… and faced him. PB, Other Gods, 375.

  191 “For editing I am greatly indebted Preface to JLB, Chinese Farm Economy.

  191 “The project brought boom times Paul B. Trescott, Jingji Xue: The History of the Introduction of Western Economic Ideas to China, 1850–1950, Hong Kong, 2007, 171. My account of JLB’s career is based primarily on Trescott’s chapter 9, “John Lossing Buck and Agricultural Economics at Nanjing University”; on Biology and Revolution in Twentieth Century China by Laurence A. Schneider, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2003; and on papers given at the conference in honor of JLB, “Rural Reform and Development: Meeting New Challenges of the 21st Century,” held at Nanjing University in November 2008.

  192 “She was always thinking JLB interview, NSC.

  192 “Do they know PC, 122.

  192 “or knowing had forgotten it.” MSW, 261.

  192 “I think I would have been PB, letter to EW, March [1931], NSC.

  192 “That first novel Andrea Lloyd interview, NSC.

  193 “He could feel in his hands The Long Love, by PB, New York [1949], Cardinal Pocket Books, 1959, 146–47.

  193 “it seemed to be about agriculture PC, 124, 41, n.9.

  193 “Words were to her GE, 51.

  193 “Nobody thought anything Helen Snow interview, NSC.

  194 the Age of Contempt 1849–1937; KL, 47–64.

  194 “He is politeness himself,” “The Little Critic,” by Lin Yutang, in The China Critic, Shanghai, June 11, 1931. Lin Yutang wrote this column from 1930 to 1935.

  194 All night through the dark streets GE, 138–39. The next two quotes are from GE, 81, 82.

  195 “a weird landscape This and the next quote from Journey to the Beginning, by Edgar Snow, New York, 1959, 9.

  195 “To educate the masses KL, 39.

  196 “It’s a change in us Lillieth Bates interview, NSC.

  196 “She was the first Helen Snow, interview with NS, July 9, 1976, NSC.

  CHAPTER 7

  197 “Her stories came from her THi, 141.

  197 “come creeping and crawling MSW, 258.

  197 “lapping at its base THi, 64.

  197 a comprehensive survey—For JLB’a flood survey, see JLB, Development of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nanjing, 40; reports in CR, November and December, 1931.

  198 Hu Zhongchi—Hu’s 1933 preface to GE, reprinted in Saizhenzhu Pinglunji, ed. Guo Yingjian, Guangxi, China, 1999. I am grateful to Ye Gongping for pointing this out to me and supplying a translation.

  198 “I miss him dreadfully!” PB, letter to GY, September 3, 1931, NSC. See ED, 171; PB, “In Memoriam,” typescript NSC; PB, letter to EW November 13, 1931, “In Remembrance,” in CR, 62, December 1931.

  198 “During the past two years MSW, 257.

  198 “We carve this tablet—The tablet can still be seen in Zhenjiang in the house commemorating the eleventh-century scientist and sage Shen Kuo. I am grateful to Zhou Weijing and Ye Gongping for this translation.

  199 She had stopped going to church—JLB interview NSC; Rev. J. Graham, letter to Mission Board, February 4, 1933, PHS.

  199 “several pages of blistering rebuke” MSW, 262. See also PC, 128–29, 402, n. 25.

  199 “Of course… it isn’t This and the next quote are from PB, letter to EW, May 29, 1931, NSC.

  199 “sex is the devil PB, letter to Edgar Sydenstricker, May 26 [1931], PSBI.

  199 “The study of peasant G. T. Yeh in Chinese Social and Political Science Review, vol. 15, no. 2, National Tsing-hua University, July 1931, 453.

  200 “I was surprised This and the next quote from Helen Snow, interview with NS, August 15, 1977, NSC.

  200 “Yuan could not bear it. HD, 154.

  200 “The story is set—“John Lossing Buck the Person,” by Shi Sanyou, in Unofficial History of Nan
jing, Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, Nanjing, 1985, kindly supplied and translated by Ye Gongping.

  201 “It is very tense PB, letter to EW, September 24, 1931.

  201 “We crawled up PB, letter to GY, March 14, 1932, NSC; information from Janice Walsh.

  201 “a somber, wild, fierce landscape PB cited in ED, 173.

  201 “It was in Peking MSW, 303. The next quote is from MSW, 311.

  202 “like a common brown hen PC, 141.

  202 “I shall avoid all publicity stuff PB, letter to EW, September 24, 1931, NSC.

  203 “How can I know ED, 177–78. For PB’s reception, see PC, 145, 406, n. 75.

  203 Chinese students at Columbia MSW, 327.

  204 “I did not know what to do THi, 308.

  204 “It gave us cold chills C. B. McAfee, letter to Merlin A. Chappe, November 7, 1932, PHS.

  204 “It is too much to expect This and the next two quotes from “The Conflict of Viewpoints,” CR 54, September 1923, 539–44.

  205 “More insidious in its pessimism This and the next quote are from “Is There a Place for the Foreign Missionary?” CR 58, February 1927, 100–107.

  205 “I grew up among such CR 63, July 1932, 450–52.

  206 I have seen the missionary PB, Is There a Case for Foreign Missions?, Methuen, UK, 1933, 8–9. The next two quotes are from 17, 20–21.

  207 “ruthless, heartless, insane Rev. Marvin M. Walters, Grace Presbyterian Church, Green Bay, Wisconsin, letter to Dr. McAfee, November 1932, PHS; “The Dirty Mud” from Rev. F. W. Backemeyer, First Presbyterian Church, Gary, Indiana, letter to McAfee, April 12, 1933, PHS. My account of this affair is based on extensive PHS papers.

  208 “wasted on a man BP, 109.

  208 “Sympathy and understanding appreciation NS, 128.

  209 “He was an impresario BP, 114, 152.

  209 “Pearl dropped into my office ED, 179; clipping from New York Sun, March 8, 1932, NSC.

  209 “He presented her Natalie Walsh Coltman interview, NSC.

  210 Machen’s challenge Correspondence, reports, and press clippings relating to this affair are in PHS.

  211 “Everything she has uttered This and the next quote are from Rev. James Graham’s report, February 4, 1933, PHS.

  211 “I am only a humble—Mrs. Guthrie, letter to Dr. Machen and Foreign Mission Board, May, 1 1933, PHS.

  211 “Some of the things Chicago Defender, May 6, 1933, PHS; Madras Mail, May 1933, PHS.

  212 In July the Bucks set out—My account of the Bucks’ return to China is based on Ardron B. Lewis and JLB interviews, NSC; MSW, 283–88; ED, 183.

  213 “He was taken by surprise. THi, 154.

  213 “I was busy, busy JLB interview, NSC.

  213 “frankly if I am to live PB, letter to EW, September 17, 1933, NSC.

  213 She gave interviews—For PB’s Shanghai welcome, see Liu Haiping in Lipscomb et al., The Several Worlds of Pearl S. Buck, 67, n.27; MSW, 287–88.

  213 “Dr. Buck’s prestige This and the following quotes are from “J. Lossing Buck,” a memoir by Ardron B. Lewis, typescript dated October 19, 1979, NSC. See also The Breach in the Wall: A Memoir of The Old China, by Lewis’s secretary, Enid Saunders Candlin, London, 1974, 247.

  214 “unquestionably the most detailed study Trescott, Jingji Xue: The History of the Introduction of Western Economic Ideas to China, 1850–1950, Hong Kong 178.

  214 “My account is based on the successive rehabilitation of JLB, after decades of vilification under Mao, carried out by Lewis in his memoir, and interview, NSC; by Laurence A. Schneider in Biology and Revolution in Twentieth Century China, 2003; by Trescott; and by papers given at the Nanjing conference 2008.

  214 “It laid a solid foundation “John Lossing Buck,” by Cui Zechun (the son of Buck’s colleague R. H. Tsui), translation by Ye Gongping.

  214 “The strain was practically impossible PB, letter to EW, September 17, 1933, NSC.

  214 “Oh, so we’ve got a secretary James Thomson interview, NSC.

  215 “the publisher Walsh” Cui Zechun, “John Lossing Buck”; JLB’s comment from NS interview, NSC.

  215 pulling off her wedding ring Pearl S. Buck: The Final Chapter, by Beverly Rizzon, Palm Springs, California, 1989, 179–80. For this journey, see MSW, 291–307.

  215 “I wanted as little as possible MSW, 291.

  216 Lin Yutang PB, letter to Richard Walsh, October 12, 1933, PSBI. For Snows and Timperley, see Helen Snow interview, NSC.

  216 “It is always better for the Chinese For Lu Xun, see Liu Haiping in Lipscomb et al., The Several Worlds of Pearl S. Buck, 62–63; PC, 425, n.116; KL, 43; PB’s review in New York Herald Tribune, June 3, 1941.

  217 “It opened many doorways Edgar Snow, Journey to the Beginning, 132–33; see also PB’s review of Living China by Edgar Snow, Asia, March 1937.

  217 “Her beautiful gray-green eyes Helen Snow typescript, NSC; also see Helen Snow letters and interview, NSC.

  218 “The chase had… been This and the next three quotes from BP, 112–13.

  218 Adultery meant social ostracism Margaret Bear and Lillieth Bates interviews, NSC. See MSW, 307; THi, 166.

  219 his publishing house faced bankruptcy See NS, 154–56.

  220 “It is Carol all over again PB, letter to EW, April 29, 1934, NSC; GY interview, NSC.

  220 Pearl took the opportunity MSW, 319–23; PB, letter to EW, April 15, 1935, NSC.

  221 “not the dapper white trees THi, 162–63; see MSW, 312–13.

  222 “She was proud Natalie Walsh Coltman interview, NSC.

  222 “I guess we questioned it GY interview, NSC.

  222 “Pearl told Richard PB, letter to Richard Walsh, April 12, 1933, in NS, 127–28.

  222 “It was a blow MSW, 275.

  223 “I didn’t write THi, 173.

  224 “Of my work I must be PB, letter to EW, April 29, 1934, NSC.

  224 “I accepted their decision SS, 191.

  224 “I conceived the idea MSW, 287.

  225 “fields big enough HD 143.

  225 “Pearl sponsored it Helen Snow interview, NSC.

  225 “I have seen him BP, 113.

  226 “a screening mind William A. Smith, NS interview, NSC.

  226 “He was the only one Edgar Walsh to author.

  226 “His outlines remained ghostly FA, 9; see ED, 191.

  226 “her steadfast eye Sons, 45.

  226 Nor can I tolerate FA, 54.

  227 a posthumous edition—For Sydenstricker’s New Testament, see A History of Nanjing Theological Seminary, 1911–61, by F. W. Price, privately printed, New York, 1961, 24. The cotranslator was Sydenstricker’s collaborator, Zhu Baohui.

  227 “I am just so happy” GY, letter to PB, February 20, 1936, NSC.

  227 “All the political propaganda KL, 129.

  228 “Carie Sydenstricker was The Presbyterian, November 4, 1936. Mrs. Junkin’s father was Hampden Coit du Bose, head of station in the Sydenstrickers’ first posting at Suzhou. See also James Bear interview, NSC.

  228 “Her mother was a very Lillieth Bates interview, NSC.

  229 “bridge between the civilizations PC, p. 376.

  229 “No other book Liu Haiping, in Lipscomb et al., The Several Worlds of Pearl S. Buck, 58, 66, n.9. On the obstruction of the film crew, see letter from PB in The China Critic, Shanghai, vol. 13, no. 3, April 16, 1939 PSBI; MSW, 392–95; PC, 159.

  230 “They may form the majority New York Times, January 15, 1933. A shortened version with PB’s reply is in MSW, 278–81. See also Liu Haiping, in Lipscomb et al., The Several Worlds of Pearl S. Buck, 61; KL, 21–22. Professor Jiang, 1883–1954, was a classical scholar, an official in the Manchu Ministry of Justice, and founder of the Chinese Socialist Party. I am grateful to Ye Gongping for this information.

  230 “The withdrawal heralded KL, 42; the next quote is from KL 64.

  230 Sai Zhenzhu Lu Haiping, in Lipscomb et al., The Several Worlds of Pearl S. Buck, 58, 66, n. 8; conversation with Professor Lu.


  230 “Nothing in Communist theory MSW, 255.

  231 “as the inevitable future leader PB, “China and the West,” 118.

  231 “Yesterday in New York MSW, 255.

  POSTSCRIPT

  233 a character who was a version THi, 269–70.

  233 “where she could go THi, 137. The next quote is from THi, 142.

  233 a deliberate self-portrait ED, 196–97; EDts; THi, 210.

  234 “desire stirred in her TPH, 48. The next quote is from TPH, 49.

  234 “when I speak the names THi, 96.

  234 “Each day when she opened TPH, 118. The following quotes are from TPH, 125, 93, 295, 115.

  235 “The book told of the difficulty THi, 211.

  236 fame dehumanized her SS, 66; MSW, 275. The next quote is from MSW, 275.

  236 “Madness was about her Other Gods, 65. The next quote is from Other Gods, 133–34.

  237 “Then I never look Helen Snow, interview with NS, July 9, 1976. My account of PB’s working method is based on interviews with Aline McMahon, Andrea Lloyd, and Robert Hill, John Day’s managing editor, NSC.

  237 “The kid is nuts.” CWNG, 165.

  237 “he said it was fun BP, 95.

  238 “No one really got close Janice Walsh, interview with author; further information from Edgar Walsh.

  238 The Townsman Natalie Walsh Coltman interview, NSC; NS, 213–14; THi, 296. The Townsman was published under the name “John Sedges.”

  239 “a basically single-handed crusade KL, 79; see also 81, 136.

  239 “Pearl had a very good mind Helen Snow interview by Jane M. Rabb, RCA.

  240 “The fact remains This and the next quote are from THi, 259.

  240 her alter ego The Long Love, by PB, [1949], Pocket Cardinal, New York, 1959, 205.

  240 “She did not think The Hidden Flower, by PB, [1952], Pocket Cardinal New York, 1954, 205.

  241 “He would have been pained FA 54–55.

  242 “trick of self-suspension” VH, 436. The following quotes are from VH, 409, 424, 434, 481.

  243 “possibly the only one Helen Snow interview with NS, July 9, 1976, NSC.

  243 “The worst thing any man Paul Roebling interview, NSC.

  244 “When Walsh and Lloyd were gone Andrea Lloyd interview NSC. For McCarthy and the FBI, see PC, 299–301, 318, 321, 326–28.