How The Good Earth Changed American Perception of China

In the 1930s and '40s, Pearl Buck had considerable influence over how Americans perceived China and Chinese people. The Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author is best known for her second novel, The Good Earth. Why did this novel become so popular? How did Western novelists historically portray Asian characters? In this video, I take a trip back to the 1930s to look at the context in which Pearl Buck wrote The Good Earth.
We also hear from Marie Toner, Curator at the Pearl S. Buck House, about Pearl Buck's literary influences, how Pearl Buck felt about the film adaptation of The Good Earth (1937), and her inspiration for writing.
Many thanks to the team at Pearl S. Buck International (@PearlSBuckIntl) for their help on this video. For more information about the Pearl S. Buck House National Historic Landmark, visit pearlsbuck.org.
Music:
musopen.org/music/43993-the-t...
Composer: Leroy Anderson
Song: The Typewriter
Performer: Markus Staab
#PearlSBuck #TheGoodEarth

[@pomragrahamate]

I read this in high school and it really inspired a love of eastern literature! I took a bunch of classes in college on Middle Eastern and Far Eastern lit!

[@angelacarleton9575]

Guess what so did I read "The Good Earth." In fact, it was so good I had to read it several more times. It did give me a reason to be more conscious of my family and how important it was to help them. Gosh, it was a fantastic book that help me to understand farmers from all cultures not just in China, and how valuable the land is for those farmers.

[@benjamingrist6539]

Wait...did you sneak a face reveal into this video?

[@kelseychristine9998]

Thank you for making this video, it was super informative and I really enjoyed it :) Can't wait for more!

[@snowprincess6430]

Wow!!! Great job. I always love your videos, but this one tops the cake. I live in the area where Pearl Buck’s house is, but never felt the need to learn about her. Your video pique my interest. Thanks! Now ‘The Good Earth’ is on my to read list. 😄📚

[@curiousworld7912]

'The Good Earth' is a great piece of storytelling, and if it helped erase some of the Western stereotypes of Chinese people, then all the better.

[@angelacarleton9575]

What I learned about "The Good Earth" by the book written by Pearl S. Buck it was one of the best books I ever read and the determination of the Chinese Culture to preserve through the harshest of weathers as a husband and wife to maintain their land for them to keep from starving. Unfortunately, there were scenes so hard for me I could not watch what some would do to avoid starvation. My deep admiration for how they were able to survive and not forget those days but being careful to maintain their land but one of the sons was well versed and learned to provide guidance to his father by building certain bins which extra wheat and barley which they grew to save for those hard time. Not sure which son was that but his father did listen and gained knowledge through him. Great film too but the book expresses so much more and made me aware how important family was to those farmers and loyalty too to the land.

[@pheromone714]

It was his second son the one who became a rice merchant in the town and wanted to be married a simple village girl

[@HNCS2006]

You judge the characters too kindly. The book clearly shows a perpetuation of the same old corruption rather than anything good. Wang turns his own house into a fallen house.

[@kanakyadav100]

A good video. I live in mumbai. 17 yrs ago In 11th and 12th standard I had taken history and part of the syllabus included Chinese history along with Indian history. This piqued my interest in China and I went to my local library. They didn't hv the good earth bt they had pearl s buck's autobiography my several worlds. And it was a superb read it talked of her childhood, her love for china, her marriage and eventual return to US as communism began to gain a foothold in China. N she lived through some of the major incidents that I was studying that year in history. I read another book by her called heaven on earth, which was also good. But not yet read the good earth! This reminds me I still hv the copy of heaven on earth. Didn't return it coz I would have been fined for late return!

[@girlsaysstuff]

I loved this book, so it was delightful to see such a great and detailed video on it!

[@unaanguila]

Thanks for sharing. The quality of your videos keep developing in giantics steps! I think is fantastic that you involved the curator in the analysis and even showed segments of the building. The intro and outro with you talking to us, I felt it like a nice personal touch. Your videos have always, for me, have that sensation of being in a conversation. With that details I sensed as a way of getting us closer.

[@janicelathon3531]

Broke my Heart Cried until my Eyes were Swollen Read it when I was 11 the Feet Binding is Beyond Crazy and Cruel

[@dorothylewis4185]

I wish this movie was redone with real asian actors. This is a very good mivie

[@stargirl7646]

Awww is that you?? Such a cute intro haha! Love the outfit 😊 Gonna be honest here - I knew the title of this book but didn’t even know it was about China 😳 Definitely something to look into for me now! I’m currently living in South Korea so it’s closer to China than I’ve ever been, but it’s very different too haha

[@Asummersdaydreamer14]

Thank you for an informative video. I watched it because all I remember about the book was angry reading it some years ago because the story did not match my preferences and the husband did not value his wife nearly enough

[@pheromone714]

Where can watch the film?

[@birgittawindt4595]

Hej Nora M. Dessa böcker är till dig från din vän Birgitta Windt, kram

[@vickinoeske1711]

Really interesting video. It kills me that a movie about China based on Asian culture had white actors and actresses.

[@koostory1776]

James Hong’s slanted eyes brought you here😮

[@ajaypatil4083]

👌🙏

[@birgittawindt4595]

Birgitta Windt som tyckte mkt om denna författare i sin ungdom, till Nora från mig.

[@SargonofQueens]

I thought the movie was banned in China. But China has extremely changed so much. They have tall and fancy buildings, fast trains and super wealthy corrupted people, yet on the other hand the farmers are getting poorer than before. They make less than $100 a year!

[@asdfqwer9803]

赛珍珠的《大地》

[@setisuafa6551]

HOLLYWOOD NEEDS TO DO THE GOOD EARTH AGAIN...THIS TIME WITH CHINESE/ASIAN ACTORS. SUGGEST A KOREAN DIRECTOR.

[@ghostlyimageoffear6210]

Maybe China can do it.

[@yichen4398]

The good earth 🌍 is about a white womanizer who is in love 🥰 w/ a China 🇨🇳 Man!!!!!! 😱 omg!!!!!