Pearl Buck in China

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Pearl Buck in China Page 35

by Hilary Spurling


  245 a platonic romance—On Ernest Hocking, see THi, 352–58; Rizzon, Pearl S. Buck: The Final Chapter, 128, 134. Hocking was the model for Edwin Steadly in The Goddess Abides, 1972.

  245 “She loses her grip See KL, 310.

  246 “I have to make all I do TPH, 189.

  246 “You could see Pearl Andrea Lloyd and Sarah Rowe interviews, NSC.

  247 “Mr. Harris was presenting Pearl Natalie Walsh Coltman interview, NSC.

  247 “the Arthur Murray crew,” John Anderson interview, NSC. My account of Harris is based on his own books; interviews with his associates in NSC; NS, 280–86; PC, Chapter 9.

  247 She also made a will NS, 334; PC, 362 and 376.

  248 “She imagined herself a queen John Anderson interview, NSC.

  248 “aspects of imperial grandeur.” James Thomson interview, NSC.

  248 “the true ruler IW, 162.

  248 “that seemed… twice as long James Thomson interview, NSC.

  248 “Magnificence became her IW, 103.

  249 “The Dancing Master,” See NS, 297–300, and “Crumbling Foundation,” Time (July 25, 1969).

  250 “Destiny compelled her IW, 91. The next quote is from IW, 170–71.

  250 “I take my prestige NS, 282.

  250 She told a journalist Ross Terrill, in PC, 372.

  251 “By birth and ancestry PB, Is There a Case for Foreign Missions?, London, 1933, 58.

  251 “taken an attitude of distortion For the full text, see PC, 373. I am grateful to Liu Haiping for information about Zhou Enlai.

  251 “They were the communications THii, viii.

  251 “I could pass her Mary Graves and Natalie Walsh Coltman interviews, NSC.

  252 “what I called her Rizzon, Pearl S. Buck: The Final Chapter, 173.

  252 “As I remember James Thomson interview, NSC.

  252 “Her spirit dwelt in loneliness IW, 221.

  252 “The scene was beautiful Rizzon, Pearl S. Buck: The Final Chapter, 418.

  253 “We were told a lot Bertha Reisner interview, NSC.

  NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION

  Current names of places and people with their equivalents in Pearl Buck’s time:

  Anhui

  Anhwei

  Beijing

  Peking

  Guangzhou

  Canton

  Guling

  Kuling

  Hangzhou

  Hangchow

  Huaiyin or Huaiyuan

  Tsingkiangpu

  Hubei

  Hupeh

  Jiangsu

  Kiangsu

  Lao She

  Lao Hsieh

  Lu Xun

  Lu Hsun

  Nanjing

  Nanking

  Nanxuzhou [Suzhou]

  Nanhsuchou

  Sai Zhenzhu (Pearl Sydenstricker)

  Sai Tseng-tsu

  Shandong

  Shantung

  Siqian

  Hsuchien

  Xu Zhimo

  Hsu Chih-Mo

  Xuzhou

  Hsuchowfu

  Zhenjiang

  Chinkiang

  INDEX

  All Men Are Brothers (Shui Hu Chuan), 4, 134

  Amerasian children, 240–41, 247, 248

  American Civil War, 6, 30, 36, 37–38, 40

  American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 138

  American School, Kuling, 66

  American School, Shanghai, 79, 89

  Anhui, China, 61, 92, 93, 97, 113, 127

  Arthur Murray Dance Studios, Jenkin-town, Pennsylvania, 247

  Asia magazine, 149, 150, 215, 216, 217, 219, 238

  Astor Hotel, New York: PB’s talk, 204, 206–7, 222–23

  Atlantic Monthly, 107, 128, 149

  Backhouse, Edmund, 246

  Bailie, Dean, 95

  Bates, Lilliath, 131, 139, 145, 164–65, 166, 169, 170–71, 175, 187, 196, 218, 228, 278n175

  Bates, Searle, 168–69

  Bavaria, 40, 221

  Bear, James, 29, 130, 131, 228, 275n143

  Bear, James, Snr, 58

  Bear, Margaret, 130, 139, 218

  Bear family, 146

  Beijing:

  “Boxer” rebellion, 30

  the Bucks flee to, 201

  capitulates to the Nationalists, 177

  post-Boxer reprisals, 50

  taken by rebels, 188

  Beijing Opera, 201

  Benchley, Robert, 208

  Berlin, Sydenstricker family in, 69

  Bible, the:

  Absalom’s New Testament translation, 22, 43, 44, 47, 65, 227

  historical credentials of, 131

  Kung’s quotations from, 51

  black rights, 8

  Bland, J. O., 246

  Book-of-the-Month Club, 188, 192, 193, 227

  Bowles, Chester, 248

  “Boxer” uprising (1900), 29–32, 33, 45, 46, 47, 51, 52, 158, 164, 230

  Brentano’s (publishers), 176

  Bucher, Adeline, 202, 212, 218

  Buck, Caroline Grace (Carol; PB’s daughter), 123, 188, 202, 237

  attends Vineland Training School, 182, 209, 219, 245–46

  birth, 117–18

  childhood, 146–49, 158

  PB searches for a secure environment for her, 181–83

  PB’s efforts to teach and train her, 170

  phenylketonuria (PKU) condition, 146–49, 150

  separation from PB, 182–83, 187, 190, 192

  stigma attached to disabled children, 170–71

  Buck, Clifford (PB’s brother-inlaw), 167

  Buck, Janice (PB’s adopted daughter), 218, 244

  appearance, 169

  chosen by PB, 149

  education, 186, 188, 222

  forced to leave Nanjing, 202

  health, 192

  helps PB in her grief for Carol, 183

  on PB, 238

  personality, 183

  Ruby Walsh looks after her, 209

  Buck, John Lossing:

  Absalom’s disapproval of, 92–93, 141–42, 165–66

  absorption in work, 116, 213

  adopts Janice, 149

  agricultural missionary, 92

  agricultural research, 100, 117

  appearance, 93

  appointed personal adviser to Morgenthau, 220

  attitude to Janice, 169

  background, 92–93

  campaigns for better education, 100–101

  Chinese Farm Economy, 98–99, 154, 161, 166, 181, 191, 270n98

  criticized by PB’s friends, 166

  and daughter Carol, 146, 150, 168

  determined to stay in China, 164, 166

  divorce from PB, 212–13, 220

  establishes Department of Agricultural Economics, 138

  founder of Chinese Agricultural Economics, 98–99, 181, 191, 212, 213–14, 280n191, 283n214

  funding, 138

  head of the College of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Nanjing, 117, 125, 137–39, 168–69

  Land Utilisation in China, 98, 214, 270n98

  Marian Gardiner on, 103

  marriage to PB, 91, 93, 96, 113–14, 122–23, 139, 163, 166–67, 238, 243–44, 246

  meets and courts PB, 92

  and missionaries’ protest to Washington, 154

  PB pays tribute to, 207

  and PB’s writing, 129, 137

  personality, 93, 113–14

  plan for Chinese Church, 165

  promotes Chinese autonomy, 100

  sets up farming program, 108

  settles in Nanxuzhou, 94–95

  surveys devastated flood area, 197–98

  Buck, Pearl S. (Pearl Comfort Buck; née Sydenstricker):

  acts as emergency anaesthetist, 109

  adoption of six children, 222, 245

  adopts Janice, 149

  ambition to be a novelist, 53, 54

  appearance, 2, 41–42, 71–72, 81, 83, 92, 125, 139, 174–75, 202, 217–18, 236

  attends Methodist
Mission School, 61, 62, 63

  attitude to religion, 88, 131, 199, 210

  banned from returning to China, 200, 230, 251

  becomes a professional writer, 127–29

  bilingual, 2, 38, 50, 51, 96, 97, 186

  birth (June 26, 1892), 1, 10, 11

  and Carol’s condition, 146–49, 150–51, 168, 170–71, 209

  Chinese name, 2, 61, 230, 253

  controversial speaker, 203–7, 210–12

  courtship by Walsh, 218

  death at Danby (March 6, 1973), 253

  death of her father, 198

  decides to remove Carol to the United States, 176

  demolishes mission movement, 203–7, 210

  denounced by missionaries, 210–11

  divorce from Lossing, 212–13, 220

  early years in Nanjing, 126

  earning power, 237

  education, 38, 49–51, 59–61, 64, 66–68, 71–77, 106, 164

  first published writings, 25–26, 66

  first returns to U.S. (1901), 33, 34–35

  friendship with Marian Gardiner, 108

  happiness of Chinese upbringing, 4, 13, 14–15, 22–24

  health, 25

  her dead siblings, 1, 10, 25–27, 145

  and her mother’s death, 118–20

  human rights campaigner, 8, 211–12, 228–29, 237–38, 245–46

  impact of The Good Earth, 192–94, 197

  influenced by Chinese novels, 4, 53, 133–35, 196

  in Japan, 162–64

  longs to return to United States, 164

  loss of first novel, 161, 176

  love for Janice, 169

  major storytellers in her life, 4–8

  marriage to J. L. Buck, 91, 93, 96, 113–14, 122–23, 139, 163, 166–67, 190–91, 218, 238, 243–44, 246

  marriage to Walsh, 218, 221, 238, 246, 249

  meets Richard Walsh, 187

  as mission teacher, 81, 82–83

  as mission wife, 110, 111–13

  in the Nanjing Incident, 156–58, 161

  Nobel Prize for literature, 9, 230

  nurses her mother, 79–81, 85–86

  opposes racial stereotypes, 38, 131, 203

  pregnancy and birth of Carol, 116, 117–18

  reading, 53–55, 62, 90–91, 133–35, 233

  received by the church, 41–42

  relationship with brother Edgar, 74–76

  relationship with her father, 45, 49, 65–66, 144–45, 226–27

  relationship with her mother, 8, 63, 86, 121–22, 123

  relationship with Xu Zhimo, 173–75, 278n175

  resigns from mission movement, 211

  searches for a secure environment for Carol, 181–83

  second return to U.S. (1910), 68–70

  separation from Carol, 182–83, 187, 190, 192

  settles in Nanxuzhou, 93–95, 103–7

  sexual experimentation, 67, 83–84, 85

  teaching Carol, 170–71

  teaching in Nanjing, 152

  travels with Richard Walsh across Asia, 215, 218

  unable to have more children, 118

  wins Howells medal, 193

  wins Pulitzer Prize, 9, 202

  writes “A Chinese Woman Speaks,” 139, 147, 149

  writes first novel, 129, 154, 161, 176

  writes The Good Earth, 185–87

  and Yangtse floods (1931), 198

  amnesia

  Boxer rebellion, 31, 33–34

  Christmas in Shanghai (1927), 165

  despair over Carol, 164

  famine in China (1906–7), 62

  female suicide, xii

  infanticide, xii, 240

  leaving for U.S., 202

  memory and forgetfulness, xii, 122, 240, 246, 255–56

  Nanjing incident (1927), xii, 236

  Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, 77, 164

  school days, 38, 66

  xenophobia, xii, 236

  personality

  aloofness, 66, 77, 238, 251

  awkwardness, 208

  balanced judgment, 245

  decisiveness, 63, 219

  defensive shell, 170

  dignity, 217–18

  diplomacy, 96, 169

  generosity, 209–10

  humor, 96–97, 239, 245

  innocence, 208

  integrity, 226

  perception, 208, 245

  sophistication, 81

  strongwill, 63

  stylishness, 81

  vigor, 219

  warmth, 226

  writing habits and method, 129, 154, 186, 233, 236–37, 239, 241–42

  writing

  fictional self portraits, 8–9, 28, 84, 119–21, 233–34, 235–36, 241–42, 246

  on sexuality, 28, 140, 176–77, 190–91, 242–43

  theory and practice of bestsellers, 9, 236–37, 239–40, 251–52

  works

  autobiography,

  The Child Who Never Grew, 182, 245–46

  My Several Worlds, 89, 246

  biography

  The Exile, 8, 11, 18, 39, 119–20, 121–23, 141, 147, 190, 226, 227–28

  The Fighting Angel, 18, 44, 49, 71, 86, 144–45, 198, 226–28

  The Flesh and the Spirit, 227

  collected fiction, The First Wife and Other Stories, 141

  dialogues, For Spacious Skies: Journey in Dialogue, with Theodore F. Harris, 249

  juvenile

  The Chinese Children Next Door, xi–xii, 56–57

  The Young Revolutionist, 189

  non-fiction articles

  “Beauty in China,” 128–29

  “China and the West,” 150

  “China in the Mirror of Her Fiction,” 191

  “In China Too,” 127–28

  “Is There a Case for Foreign Missions?,” 204–5

  novels:

  The Angry Wife, 72

  Dragon Seed, 239

  East Wind, West Wind (previously Winds of Heaven), 87, 120, 137, 176–77, 187–88; see also “A Chinese Woman Speaks”

  The Good Earth (previously Wang Lung), 9, 15, 41, 62, 79, 95, 97, 99–102, 109, 124, 128, 133, 151, 154, 158, 176, 185, 187–89, 192–94, 198–202, 203, 210, 214, 224, 226, 227, 228, 238

  film of, 229

  stage version of, 208

  The Hidden Flower, 240–41

  A House Divided, 79–80, 98, 136, 153, 172, 179–80, 184, 224–25, 229, 239

  Imperial Woman, 53, 241, 246, 248, 250

  Kinfolk, 239

  Letter from Peking, 67, 175, 177, 239

  The Living Reed, 239

  The Long Love, 193, 240

  The Mother, 133, 151, 190, 192, 219

  Other Gods, 167, 191, 235–36

  The Patriot, 239

  Pavilion of Women, 241, 245

  Portrait of a Marriage, 76

  The Promise, 239

  Sons, 23, 203

  This Proud Heart, 166, 233–36, 246

  The Three Daughters of Mme.

  Liang, 239, 241

  The Time Is Noon, 28, 76, 84, 87, 119, 120–21, 123, 143, 148, 151, 168, 190, 223–24, 236

  The Townsman, 17, 28, 238–39

  Voices in the House, 8–9, 241–43

  pamphlet, “Is There a Place for the Foreign Missionary?,” 205

  plays

  Desert Incident, 244

  The Good Earth, 208

  short stories

  “A Chinese Woman Speaks”, 139–41, 147, 149, 175, 176; see also East Wind, West Wind

  “The Clutch of the Ancients,” 137

  “Fool’s Sacrifice,” 224

  “The Frill,” 132

  “Lao Wang, the Farmer,” 154, 185

  “Lao Wang’s Old Cow,” 186

  “Repatriated,” 177

  “The Revolutionist,” 185

  translation, All Men Are Brothers (Shui Hu Chuan), 189, 201, 202–3, 208

  Buddhism, 48

  Burma, PB and Walsh in, 215

  Calvert School, Balt
imore, 60

  Calvinism, 37, 69, 115, 205

  Cambodia, PB and Walsh in, 215

  Carroll, Lewis: Alice in Wonderland, 66

  Carter, Mrs. Thomas, 113, 117

  Carter, Neale, 86

  Carter, Rev. Thomas, 95, 101, 107, 108, 112–13, 117

  Century Magazine, 54

  Cervantes, Miguel de, 90

  Chang, Madame, 104–5, 108, 116–17

  Chang, Pastor, 56

  Chang Chung Chang, General, 155–56

  Chang family, 104, 107

  Chang Hsun, 101

  Chefoo (Yantai), China, 28

  Chen Duxiu (Ch’en Tu-hsiu), 89–90, 173

  Chiang Kaishek:

  blamed for torrential rain, 197

  campaign to exterminate the Communists, 164, 171, 188–89

  dismantles the silver standard, 213

  endorses terror tactics, 160

  his model army, 152

  PB on, 172, 180

  posters denounce him, 178

  proclaims a Nationalist government, 160

  propaganda and psychological warfare, 153

  runs regions as a police state, 189

  seizes Shanghai with Communist support, 160

  in strategic retreat, 164

  summer capital in Kuling, 222

  Chiang Kaishek, Madame, 197–98

  Chicago Defender, 212

  children, rights of, 8, 229

  China:

  death and funeral of Sun Yatsen, 180

  education and mission schools, 81–82

  enforced removal of pigtails, 78, 83

  famine, 61–63, 68, 128

  foot binding, 4, 5, 56, 78, 107, 108, 132

  funerals, 2, 59

  infanticide, xi, xii, 3, 57, 111, 112

  Japan invades the mainland (1937), 229

  PB banned in, 200, 230, 251

  PB leaves China (1934), 233

  PB on peasant farmers, 99–100, 185–86, 189

  PB on urban working class, 194, 230–31

  PB’s China (map), x

  PB transforms Western perceptions of China, 9, 131, 192–94, 196, 239

  revivalist meetings after 1900 uprising, 46

  Revolution (1911), 78, 80, 95, 112

  slavery, xii, 38, 67–68, 112

  suicide, xii, 112, 114–15

  U.S. indifference to China, 193–94

  warlords, 3, 89, 132, 153, 155, 188

  Western stereotyping of Chinese, 193–94

  China Critic, The, 213

  China Famine Fund, 138

  China Inland Mission, London, 69

  Chinese civil war (1927–49), 214

  the Bucks flee to Shanghai, 164

  Chiang Kaishek establishes government in Nanjing, 177

  Chiang Kaishek’s campaign to exterminate the Communists, 164, 171, 188–89

 

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