View source for Pearl S. Buck

{{Short description|American writer (1892–1973)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Pearl S. Buck
| image            = Pearl S. Buck - 1960.jpg
| caption          = Buck on the set of ''[[The Big Wave (film)|The Big Wave]]'' in 1960
| birth_name       = Comfort Sydenstricker
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1892|6|26|mf=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Hillsboro, West Virginia]], U.S.
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1973|3|6|1892|6|26}}
| death_place      = [[Danby, Vermont]], U.S.
| education        = [[Randolph College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Cornell University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])
| occupation       = {{hlist|Writer|teacher|humanitarian|activist|film producer}}
| spouse           = {{marriage|[[John Lossing Buck]]|1917|1935|end=divorced}}<br>{{marriage|[[Richard J. Walsh|Richard John Walsh]]|1935|1960|end=his death}}
| awards           = {{awards|[[Pulitzer Prize]]|1932}}
{{awards|[[Nobel Prize in Literature]]|1938}}
| signature        = Pearl S Buck signature.svg
| children         = 8
}}

'''Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker Buck''' (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and humanitarian. She is best known for ''[[The Good Earth]]'', the best-selling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932, which won her the [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction|Pulitzer Prize]] in 1932. In 1938, Buck became the first American woman to win the [[1938 Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize in Literature]] "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of [[Rural society in China|peasant life in China]]" and for her "masterpieces", two memoir-biographies of her missionary parents.<ref>[https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1938/ The Nobel Prize in Literature 1938] Accessed March 9, 2013</ref>

Buck was born in West Virginia, but in October 1892, her parents took their 4-month-old baby to China. As the daughter of [[Missionary|missionaries]] and later as a missionary herself, Buck spent most of her life before 1934 in [[Zhenjiang]], with her parents, and in [[Nanjing]], with her first husband. She and her parents spent their summers in a villa in [[Kuling, Jiujiang|Kuling]], [[Mount Lu]], [[Jiujiang]], and it was during this annual pilgrimage that the young girl decided to become a writer.<ref name="kulingamericanschool.com">{{cite web |title=Kuling American School Association – Americans Who Still Call Lushan Home |url=http://www.kulingamericanschool.com/index.html |website=Kuling American School Association 美国学堂 Website |access-date=July 23, 2021}}</ref> She graduated from [[Randolph-Macon Woman's College]] in Lynchburg, Virginia, then returned to China. From 1914 to 1932, after marrying [[John Lossing Buck]], she served as a Presbyterian missionary, but she came to doubt the need for foreign missions. Her views became controversial during the [[Fundamentalist–modernist controversy]], leading to her resignation.<ref name="Conn, Pearl S. Buck, 70–82">Conn, ''Pearl S. Buck'', 70–82.</ref>

After returning to the United States in 1935, Buck married the publisher [[Richard J. Walsh]] and continued writing prolifically. She became an activist and prominent advocate of the [[women's rights|rights of women]] and [[minority rights|racial equality]], and wrote widely on [[Chinese culture|Chinese]] and [[Culture of Asia|Asian cultures]], becoming particularly well known for her efforts on behalf of Asian and [[Interracial adoption|mixed-race adoption]].

== Early life and education ==
[[File:Pearl Buck Birthplace 2.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The Stulting House at the [[Pearl Buck Birthplace]] in [[Hillsboro, West Virginia]]]]
Originally named Comfort,<ref>Lian Xi, ''The Conversion of Missionaries'', University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 1996) 102 {{ISBN|0271064382}}.</ref> Pearl Sydenstricker was born in [[Hillsboro, West Virginia]], to Caroline Maude (Stulting) (1857–1921) and [[Absalom Sydenstricker]], of Dutch and German descent respectively.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Smylie |first=James H. |date=January 2004 |title=Pearl Buck's "Several Worlds" and the "Inasmuch" of Christ |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/004057360406000407 |url-access=limited |journal=Theology Today |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=540–554 |doi=10.1177/004057360406000407 |quote=Absalom Sydenstricker, of German ancestry, was born into a strict Presbyterian family of Greenbrier County, Virginia... Carie, Pearl's mother, was born a Stulting in Hillsboro (where Pearl also was born), of Dutch stock leavened by French yeast stirred into the ancestral mix.  |access-date=January 22, 2024}}</ref> Her parents, [[American Southern Presbyterian Mission|Southern Presbyterian]] [[Mission (Christian)|missionaries]], were married on July 8, 1880 and moved to [[China]] shortly thereafter, but returned to the United States for Pearl's birth. When Pearl was five months old, the family returned to China, living first in [[Huai'an]] and then in 1896 moving to [[Zhenjiang]], which was then known as Chingkiang in the [[Chinese postal romanization]] system, near the major city of [[Nanjing]].<ref>{{citation|first=David |last=Shavit|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1990|isbn=0-313-26788-X|title=The United States in Asia: a historical dictionary|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IWdZTaJdc6UC|page=480}} (Entry for "Sydenstricker, Absalom")</ref> In summer, she and her family spent time in [[Kuling, Jiujiang|Kuling]]. Her father built a stone villa in Kuling in 1897, and lived there until his death in 1931.<ref>{{cite web |title=赛兆祥墓碑 |url=http://www.mylushan.com/Stone/2009108/200910819545821.html |website=mylushan.com |access-date=22 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Pearl S. Buck house in Zhenjiang |url=http://www.sexualfables.com/Pearl-Buck-house-in-Zhenjiang.php |access-date=22 July 2021}}</ref> It was during this annual summer pilgrimage in Kuling that the young girl decided to become a writer.<ref name="kulingamericanschool.com"/>

Of her siblings who survived into adulthood, [[Edgar Sydenstricker]] had a distinguished career with the [[United States Public Health Service|U.S. Public Health Service]] and later the [[Milbank Quarterly|Milbank Memorial Fund]], and Grace Sydenstricker Yaukey (1899–1994) wrote young adult books and books about Asia under the pen name Cornelia Spencer.<ref>{{cite news |title=Grace Sydenstricker Yaukey papers, 1934–1968 |url=http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv07534 |access-date=January 17, 2019 |publisher=Orbis Cascade Alliance}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Grace S. Yaukey Dies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/1994/05/05/grace-s-yaukey-dies/d79e3e98-da61-435e-9b75-e7e5b23efc05/ |access-date=January 18, 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=May 5, 1994}}</ref>

Pearl recalled in her memoir that she lived in "several worlds", one a "small, white, clean [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] world of my parents", and the other the "big, loving merry not-too-clean Chinese world", and there was no communication between them.<ref>Pearl S. Buck, ''My Several Worlds: A Personal Record'' (New York: John Day, 1954) p. 10.</ref> The [[Boxer Uprising]] (1899–1901) greatly affected the family; their Chinese friends deserted them, and Western visitors decreased. Her father, convinced that no Chinese could wish him harm, stayed behind as the rest of the family went to [[Shanghai]] for safety. A few years later, Buck was enrolled in Miss Jewell's School in Shanghai, and was dismayed at the [[Racism|racist]] attitudes there of other students, few of whom could speak any Chinese. Both of her parents felt strongly that Chinese were their equals; they forbade the use of the word ''heathen'', and she was raised in a bilingual environment: tutored in English by her mother, in the local dialect by her Chinese playmates, and in classical Chinese by a Chinese scholar named Mr. Kung. She also read voraciously, especially, in spite of her father's disapproval, the novels of [[Charles Dickens]], which she later said she read through once a year for the rest of her life.<ref>Peter Conn, ''Pearl S. Buck: A Cultural Biography'', Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996) 9, 19–23 {{ISBN|0521560802}}.</ref>

In 1911, Buck left China to attend [[Randolph-Macon Woman's College]] in [[Lynchburg, Virginia]], where she graduated [[Phi Beta Kappa]] in 1914 and was a member of [[Kappa Delta]] sorority.

== Career ==
===China===
[[File:Pearl Buck.jpg|thumb|upright|Buck photographed in 1932, about the time ''The Good Earth'' was published]]
Although Buck had not intended to return to China, much less become a missionary, she quickly applied to the [[Presbyterian Mission Agency|Presbyterian Board]] when her father wrote that her mother was seriously ill. In 1914, Buck returned to China. She married an [[Agricultural economics|agricultural economist]] missionary, [[John Lossing Buck]], on May 13,<ref>{{cite book|author=Mary Ellen Snodgrass|title=American Women Speak|year=2016|publisher=ABC-Clio|isbn=978-1-4408-3785-2|page=115}}</ref> 1917, and they moved to [[Suzhou, Anhui]] Province, a small town on the [[Huai River]] (not to be confused with the better-known [[Suzhou, Jiangsu|Suzhou]] in [[Jiangsu Province]]). This is the region she describes in her books ''The Good Earth'' and ''Sons''.

From 1920 to 1933, the Bucks made their home in Nanjing, on the campus of the [[University of Nanking (defunct in 1952)|University of Nanking]], where they both had teaching positions. She taught [[English literature]] at this private, church-run university,<ref>{{cite book|author=Gould Hunter Thomas|
title=''An American in China, 1936–1939: A Memoir''| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6fL9PAAACAAJ|date=2004| chapter=Nanking | chapter-url=http://www.willysthomas.net/Nanking.htm | publisher=Greatrix Press|isbn=978-0-9758800-0-5}}</ref> and also at [[Ginling College]] and at the [[Nanjing University#History 2|National Central University]]. In 1920, the Bucks had a daughter, Carol, who was afflicted with [[phenylketonuria]] that left her severely [[developmentally disabled]]. Buck had to have a [[hysterectomy]] due to complications of Carol's birth, leaving her unable to have more biological children.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Graves |first=Kori A. |date=2019 |title=Amerasian Children, Hybrid Superiority and Pearl S. Buck's Transracial and Transnational Adoption Activism |url=https://gwern.net/doc/history/2019-graves-2.pdf |journal=[[Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography]] |volume=143 |issue=2 |pages=194 |doi=10.1353/pmh.2019.0016 |s2cid=150848411 |via=Gwern.net}}</ref> In 1921, Buck's mother died of a tropical disease, [[Tropical sprue|sprue]], and shortly afterward her father moved in. In 1924, they left China for John Buck's year of sabbatical and returned to the United States for a short time, during which Pearl Buck earned a master's degree from [[Cornell University]]. In 1925, the Bucks adopted a child named Janice (later surnamed Walsh). That autumn, they returned to China.<ref name="Conn, Pearl S. Buck, 70–82" />

The tragedies and dislocations that Buck suffered in the 1920s reached a climax in March 1927, during the "[[Nanking incident of 1927|Nanking Incident]]". In a confused battle involving elements of [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s [[National Revolutionary Army|Nationalist troops]], [[Communism in China|Communist]] forces, and assorted warlords, several Westerners were murdered. Her father insisted that the family should stay in Nanjing until the battle reached the city, as he had in 1900 in the face of the Boxers. When violence broke out, a poor Chinese family invited them to hide in their hut while the family's house was looted. The family spent a day terrified and in hiding, after which American gunboats rescued them. They traveled to Shanghai and then sailed to Japan, where they stayed for a year, after which they moved back to Nanjing. Buck later said that this year in Japan showed her that not all Japanese were militarists. When she returned from Japan in late 1927, Buck devoted herself in earnest to the vocation of writing. Friendly relations with prominent Chinese writers of the time, such as [[Xu Zhimo]] and [[Lin Yutang]], encouraged her to think of herself as a professional writer. She wanted to fulfill the ambitions denied to her mother, but she also needed money to support herself if she left her marriage, which had become increasingly lonely. Since the mission board could not provide it, she also needed money for Carol's specialized care.
[[File:Richard J. Walsh, portrait photograph agc.7a13018.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Buck married her publisher, [[Richard J. Walsh]], the same day she divorced [[John Lossing Buck]].]]

Buck traveled once more to the United States in 1929 to find long-term care for Carol, eventually placing her in the [[Vineland Training School]] in New Jersey. Buck served on the Board of Trustees for the school, where Carol would live until she died in 1992 at age 72.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reader thanks Pearl Buck for 'beautiful stories' by tending her daughter's unmarked grave |url=https://www.thedailyjournal.com/story/news/2022/04/08/pearl-s-buck-daughter-unmarked-grave-vineland-memorial-marker/9475189002/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=The Daily Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> While Buck was in the United States, Richard J. Walsh, editor at [[John Day Company|John Day publishers]] in New York, accepted her novel ''[[East Wind: West Wind]].'' She and Walsh began a relationship that would eventually lead to marriage and many years of professional collaboration.

Back in Nanking, Buck retreated every morning to the attic of her university house, and within the year, completed the manuscript for ''[[The Good Earth]]''.<ref name="Conn, Pearl S. Buck, 345">Conn, ''Pearl S. Buck'', 345.</ref>  She was involved in the charity relief campaign for the victims of the [[1931 China floods]], writing a series of short stories describing the plight of refugees, which were broadcast on the radio in the United States and later published in her collected volume ''The First Wife and Other Stories''.<ref name ="Courtney">Courtney, Chris (2018), [https://books.google.com/books?id=1DhFDwAAQBAJ "The Nature of Disaster in China: The 1931 Central China Flood"], Cambridge University Press [{{ISBN|978-1-108-41777-8}}]</ref>

When her husband took the family to [[Ithaca, New York]], the following year, Buck accepted an invitation to address a luncheon of Presbyterian women at the [[Hotel Astor (New York City)|Hotel Astor]] in New York City. Her talk was titled "Is There a Case for the Foreign Missionary?" and her answer was a barely qualified "no". She told her American audience that she welcomed Chinese to share her Christian faith, but argued that China did not need an institutional church dominated by missionaries who were too often ignorant of China and arrogant in their attempts to control it. When the talk was published in ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'',<ref>Pearl S. Buck, "Is There a Case for Foreign Missions?," ''Harper's'' 166 (January 1933):  143–155.</ref> the scandalized reaction led Buck to resign from the Presbyterian Board. In 1934, Buck left China, believing she would return,<ref name=":0" /> while her husband remained.<ref>Buck, Pearl S. ''The Good Earth.'' Ed. Peter Conn. New York: Washington Square Press, 1994. pp. xviii–xix.</ref>

===United States===
Buck divorced her husband John in [[Reno, Nevada]], on June 11, 1935,<ref>{{Cite web|title = Pearl Buck's divorce|url = http://renodivorcehistory.org/library/pearl-bucks-divorce/|website = renodivorcehistory.org|access-date = October 15, 2015}}</ref> and she married Richard Walsh that same day.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.wilsonquarterly.com/essays/resurrection-pearl-buck|title=The Resurrection of Pearl Buck|last=Melvin|first=Sheila|date=2006|website=Wilson Quarterly Archives|access-date=October 24, 2016}}</ref> He reportedly offered her advice and affection that, her biographer concludes, "helped make Pearl's prodigious activity possible". The couple moved with Janice to [[Pearl S. Buck House National Historic Landmark|Green Hills Farm]] in [[Bucks County, Pennsylvania|Bucks County]], [[Pennsylvania]], which they quickly set about filling with adopted children. Two sons were brought home as infants in 1936 and followed by another son and daughter in 1937.<ref name=":1" />

After the [[Chinese Communist Revolution|Communist Revolution]] in 1949, Buck was repeatedly refused all attempts to return to her beloved China. Her 1962 novel ''[[Satan Never Sleeps]]'' is heavily anti-communist and filled with religious themes, and was adapted into a film in the same year. During the [[Cultural Revolution]], Buck, as a preeminent American writer of Chinese village life, was denounced as an "American [[Cultural imperialism|cultural imperialist]]".<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125682489 | title=A Chinese Fan Of Pearl S. Buck Returns The Favor| date=April 7, 2010 | work=[[NPR]]}}</ref> Buck was "heartbroken" when she was prevented from visiting China with [[Richard Nixon]] in 1972, reportedly due to political interference by [[Jiang Qing]], a prominent figure in the denunciation of Buck.<ref name=":0" />

===Nobel Prize in Literature===
In 1938, the [[Nobel Committee for Literature|Nobel Prize committee]] wrote:

{{blockquote|By awarding this year's Prize to Pearl Buck for the notable works which pave the way to a human sympathy passing over widely separated racial boundaries and for the studies of human ideals which are a great and living art of portraiture, the Swedish Academy feels that it acts in harmony and accord with the aim of Alfred Nobel's dreams for the future.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1938/ceremony-speech/|title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 1938|website=NobelPrize.org}}</ref>}}

In her speech to the Academy, Buck took as her topic "The Chinese Novel". She explained, "I am an American by birth and by ancestry", but "my earliest knowledge of story, of how to tell and write stories, came to me in China." After an extensive discussion of classic Chinese novels, especially ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'', ''[[Water Margin|All Men Are Brothers]]'', and ''[[Dream of the Red Chamber]]'', she concluded that in China "the novelist did not have the task of creating art but of speaking to the people." Her own ambition, she continued, had not been trained toward "the beauty of letters or the grace of art." In China, the task of the novelist differed from the Western artist: "To farmers he must talk of their land, and to old men he must speak of peace, and to old women he must tell of their children, and to young men and women he must speak of each other." And like the Chinese novelist, she concluded, "I have been taught to want to write for these people. If they are reading their magazines by the million, then I want my stories there rather than in magazines read only by a few."<ref>Nobel Lecture (1938) [https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1938/buck-lecture.html# The Chinese Novel]</ref>

===Humanitarian efforts===
[[File:Pearl Buck and Swedish King.gif|thumb|left|upright|Pearl S. Buck receives the Nobel Prize for Literature from [[Gustaf V|King Gustav V of Sweden]] in the Stockholm Concert Hall in 1938]]
Buck was committed to a range of issues that were largely ignored by her generation. Many of her life experiences and political views are described in her novels, short stories, fiction, children's stories, and the biographies of her parents entitled ''[[Fighting Angel]]'' (on Absalom) and ''[[The Exile (Buck book)|The Exile]]'' (on Carrie). She wrote on diverse subjects, including [[women's rights]], Asian cultures, immigration, adoption, missionary work, war, the [[atomic bomb]] (''Command the Morning''), and violence. Long before it was considered fashionable or politically safe to do so, Buck challenged the American public by raising consciousness on topics such as racism, sex discrimination and the plight of Asian [[war children]]. Buck combined the careers of wife, mother, author, editor, international spokesperson, and political activist.<ref name="Conn, Pearl S. Buck, xv-xvi">Conn, ''Pearl S. Buck'', xv–xvi.</ref> Buck became well-known as an advocate for civil rights, women’s rights, and [[Disability rights movement|disability rights]].<ref name="Lipscomb 2023">Lipscomb, Elizabeth Johnston "Pearl S. Buck." e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 04 January 2023. Web. 01 April 2023.</ref>

In 1949, after finding that existing adoption services considered Asian and [[multiracial|mixed-race]] children unadoptable, Buck founded the first permanent [[foster home]] for US-born mixed-race children of Asian descent, naming it The Welcome Home. The foster home was located in a 16-room farmhouse in Pennsylvania next door to Buck's own home, Green Hill Farm, and Buck was actively involved in everything from planning the children's diets to buying their clothing. Among the home's Board of Directors were librettist [[Oscar Hammerstein II]] and his second wife, interior designer [[Dorothy Hammerstein|Dorothy]], composer [[Richard Rodgers]], seed company tycoon [[David Burpee]] and his wife Lois and author [[James A. Michener]]. As more and more children were referred to the foster home, however, it quickly became apparent that it couldn't accommodate them all and adoptive homes were needed. Welcome Home was turned into the first international, [[interracial adoption]] agency, and Buck began actively promoting the adoption of mixed-race children to the American public. In an effort to overcome the longstanding public view that such children were inferior and undesirable, Buck claimed in interviews and speeches that "hybrid" children of interracial backgrounds were actually genetically superior to other children in terms of intelligence and health. She and her husband Richard then adopted two mixed-race daughters from overseas themselves: an Afro-German girl in 1951 and an Afro-Japanese girl in 1957, giving her eight children in total.<ref name=":1" /> In 1967 she turned over most of her earnings—more than $7 million— to the adoption agency to help with costs.<ref>Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Pearl S. Buck". Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Mar. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pearl-S-Buck. Accessed 1 April 2023.</ref>
[[File:Smithsonian - NPG - Pearl S. Buck - NPG.87.168.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Buck by Samuel Johnson Woolf]]
Buck established the Pearl S. Buck Foundation (name changed to Pearl S. Buck International in 1999)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pearlsbuck.org/|title=Home|last=amy.gress|website=Pearl S Buck|language=en-US|access-date=February 25, 2019}}</ref> to "address poverty and discrimination faced by children in Asian countries." In 1964, she opened the Opportunity Center and Orphanage in South Korea, and later offices were opened in Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. When establishing Opportunity House, Buck said, "The purpose ... is to publicize and eliminate injustices and prejudices suffered by children, who, because of their birth, are not permitted to enjoy the educational, social, economic and civil privileges normally accorded to children."<ref>Pearl S. Buck International, "[http://www.psbi.org/site/PageServer?pagename=PSBI_AboutUs_History Our History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061231155031/http://www.psbi.org/site/PageServer?pagename=PSBI_AboutUs_History |date=2006-12-31 }}," 2009.</ref> In 1960, after a long decline in health that included a series of [[stroke]]s,<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 20, 2001 |title=Pearl Buck's son speaks of her love: In Bucks Library, he recalls happy childhood at Green Hills Farm |work=[[The Morning Call]] |url=https://www.mcall.com/2001/03/20/pearl-bucks-son-speaks-of-her-love-in-bucks-library-he-recalls-happy-childhood-at-green-hills-farm/ |url-status=live |access-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230724010601/https://www.mcall.com/2001/03/20/pearl-bucks-son-speaks-of-her-love-in-bucks-library-he-recalls-happy-childhood-at-green-hills-farm/ |archive-date=July 24, 2023}}</ref> Buck's husband Richard Walsh died. She renewed a warm relationship with [[William Ernest Hocking]], who died in 1966. Buck then withdrew from many of her old friends and quarreled with others.

In 1962 Buck asked the Israeli Government for [[clemency]] for [[Adolf Eichmann]], the [[War crimes of the Wehrmacht|Nazi war criminal]] who was complicit in the deaths of six million Jews during World War II,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Eichmann: his life and crimes|last=Cesarani, David.|date=2005|publisher=Vintage|isbn=0-09-944844-0|location=London|pages=319–20|oclc=224240952}}</ref> as she and others believed that carrying out [[capital punishment]] against Eichmann could be seen as an act of vengeance, especially since the war had ended.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The trial of Adolf Eichmann - Verdict - Exhibition Eichmann on Trial, Jerusalem 1961 – Shoah Memorial |url=https://juger-eichmann.memorialdelashoah.org/exhibition/verdict-en.html |access-date=2022-07-07 |website=juger-eichmann.memorialdelashoah.org}}</ref>

During a December 17, 1962 visit to the Kennedy White House, Buck urged the Kennedy administration to help resolve [[Cross-Strait relations|People's Republic of China-Taiwan relations]] by supporting de facto independence of Taiwan for a 10 to 25 year period with an agreement that afterwards a plebiscite could be held based on a negotiated settlement.<ref name="Crean">{{Cite book |last=Crean |first=Jeffrey |title=The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History |date=2024 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-350-23394-2 |edition= |series=New Approaches to International History series |location=London, UK |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=103}}

Buck’s ties with her native state remained strong. In the title essay of My Mother’s House, a small book written by Buck and others to help raise funds for the Birthplace Museum, she paid tribute to the house her mother had cherished while living far away: ‘‘For me it was a living heart in the country I knew was my own but which was strange to me until I returned to the house where I was born.<ref name="Lipscomb 2023"/> In the late 1960s, Buck toured West Virginia to raise money to preserve her family farm in [[Hillsboro, West Virginia]]. Today the [[Pearl S. Buck Birthplace]] is a [[historic house museum]] and cultural center.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pearlsbuckbirthplace.com/ |title=The Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation |access-date=September 27, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325073636/http://www.pearlsbuckbirthplace.com/ |archive-date=March 25, 2015 }}</ref> She hoped the house would "belong to everyone who cares to go there," and serve as a "gateway to new thoughts and dreams and ways of life."<ref>Buck, Pearl S. ''My Mother's House.'' Richwood, WV: Appalachian Press. pp. 30–31.</ref>  Former U.S. President [[George H. W. Bush]] toured the Pearl S. Buck House in October 1998. He expressed that he, like millions of other Americans, had gained an appreciation for the Chinese people through Buck's writing.<ref>{{Citation | title = DDMap.com: 赛珍珠故居 | url = http://nj.ddmap.com/25/ddshop/659569 | access-date = February 21, 2010 | language = zh | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402111830/http://nj.ddmap.com/25/ddshop/659569 | archive-date = April 2, 2015 }}</ref>

==Final years and death==
In the mid-1960s, Buck increasingly came under the influence of Theodore Harris, a former dance instructor, who became her confidant, co-author, and financial advisor. She soon depended on him for all her daily routines, and placed him in control of Welcome House and the Pearl S. Buck Foundation. Harris, who was given a lifetime salary as head of the foundation, created a scandal for Buck when he was accused of mismanaging the foundation, diverting large amounts of the foundation's funds for his friends' and his own personal expenses, and treating staff poorly.<ref name = ril>{{citation|first=Greg|last=Walter|chapter='Philadelphia', as quoted|editor1=Sam G. Riley |editor2=Gary W. Selnow|title=Regional Interest Magazines of the United States|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=Westport, Connecticut|year=1991|page=259|isbn=978-0-313-26840-3|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wb_1YI0zSxIC&pg=PA259}}</ref>{{sfnb|Conn|1996|p=376}} Buck defended Harris, stating that he was "very brilliant, very high strung and artistic."<ref name = ril /> Before her death, Buck signed over her foreign royalties and her personal possessions to Creativity Inc., a foundation controlled by Harris.<ref name="TIME">{{cite magazine|magazine=Time|title=Crumbling Foundation|volume=94|issue=4|page=66|date=July 25, 1969}}</ref>

Pearl S. Buck died of [[lung cancer]] on March 6, 1973, in [[Danby, Vermont]]. She was interred on [[Green Hills Farm]] in [[Perkasie, Pennsylvania]]. She designed her own tombstone. Her name was not inscribed in English on her tombstone. Instead, the grave marker is inscribed with the Chinese characters '''賽珍珠''' ({{lang-zh|p=Sai Zhenzhu}}) representing the name Pearl Sydenstricker; specifically, Sai is the sound of the first syllable of her last name (Chinese family  names come first), and Zhenzhu is the Chinese word for pearl.<ref>Conn, Peter, [http://www.orlok.com/cyberbil/pearl2/pbbio.html Dragon and the Pearl]</ref><ref>Benoit, Brian, [https://www.readex.com/blog/fostering-understanding%E2%80%94and-children-pearl-s-buck-interprets-china-americans-and-chinese-alike]. This article only mentions the meaning of the second two characters, precious pearl, which in common language is simply the two character word for pearl.</ref>

Buck left behind three contradictory wills, resulting in a three-way legal dispute over her estate between her financial advisor Theodore Harris, the nonprofit Pearl Buck Foundation, and her seven adopted children. After a six-year battle, the dispute was settled in her children's favor after both Harris and the Pearl Buck Foundation dropped their claims (the latter in return for a financial settlement from Buck's children).<ref>{{Cite news |date=1979-11-18 |title=Pearl Buck's 7 Adopted Children Win Six-Year Battle Over Estate |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/18/archives/pearl-bucks-7-adopted-children-win-sixyear-battle-over-estate.html |access-date=2023-07-24 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:Pearl Buck Former Residence in Nanjing University.jpg|thumb|Pearl S. Buck's former residence at [[Nanjing University]]]]
[[File:Statue of Pearl S. Buck.jpg|thumb|right|A statue of Pearl S. Buck stands in front of the former residence at Nanjing University]]
Many contemporary reviewers praised Buck's "beautiful prose", even though her "style is apt to degenerate into over-repetition and confusion".<ref>{{cite journal|last=E.G.|title=Rev. of ''Sons''|journal=[[Pacific Affairs]]|year=1933|volume=6|issue=2/3|pages=112–15|doi=10.2307/2750834|jstor=2750834}}</ref> [[Robert Benchley]] wrote a parody of ''The Good Earth'' that emphasised these qualities. Peter Conn, in his biography of Buck, argues that despite the accolades awarded to her, Buck's contribution to literature has been mostly forgotten or deliberately ignored by America's cultural gatekeepers.<ref name="Conn, Pearl S. Buck, xii-xiv">Conn, ''Pearl S. Buck'', xii–xiv.</ref> Kang Liao argues that Buck played a "pioneering role in demythologizing China and the Chinese people in the American mind".<ref>{{cite book|last=Liao|first=Kang|title=Pearl S. Buck: a cultural bridge across the Pacific|year=1997|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0-313-30146-9|pages=4}}</ref> [[Phyllis Bentley]], in an overview of Buck's work published in 1935, was altogether impressed: "But we may say at least that for the interest of her chosen material, the sustained high level of her technical skill, and the frequent universality of her conceptions, Mrs. Buck is entitled to take rank as a considerable artist. To read her novels is to gain not merely knowledge of China but wisdom about life."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bentley|first=Phyllis|title=The Art of Pearl S. Buck|journal=[[The English Journal]]|year=1935|volume=24|issue=10|pages=791–800|jstor=804849|doi=10.2307/804849}}</ref> These works aroused considerable popular sympathy for China, and helped foment a more critical view of Japan and its aggression.

Chinese-American author [[Anchee Min]] said she "broke down and sobbed" after reading ''The Good Earth'' for the first time as an adult, which she had been forbidden to read growing up in China during the [[Cultural Revolution]]. Min said Buck portrayed the Chinese peasants "with such love, affection and humanity" and it inspired Min's novel ''[[Pearl of China]]'' (2010).<ref name=npr>NPR, "[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125682489 A Chinese Fan Of Pearl S. Buck Returns The Favor]", All Things Considered, April 7, 2010. Accessed 7/4/10</ref>

In 1973, Buck was inducted into the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/pearl-s-buck/|title=Buck, Pearl S.|website=National Women's Hall of Fame}}</ref> Buck was honored in 1983 with a 5¢ Great Americans series [[postage stamp]] issued by the [[United States Postal Service]]<ref name=NPM>{{cite web|author=Smithsonian National Postal Museum|title=Great Americans Issue: 5-cent Buck|url=http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&mode=1&tid=2029350|access-date=August 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060920085046/http://www.arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&mode=1&tid=2029350|archive-date=September 20, 2006}}</ref> In 1999 she was designated a [[Women's History Month]] Honoree by the [[National Women's History Project]].<ref name="WHM">{{cite web | year=2010 | title=Honorees: 2010 National Women's History Month | work=Women's History Month | publisher=[[National Women's History Project]] | url=http://nwhp.org/whm/honorees.php | access-date=November 14, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828145122/http://www.nwhp.org/whm/honorees.php | archive-date=August 28, 2014 }}</ref>

Buck's former residence at [[Nanjing University]] is now the '''Pearl S. Buck Memorial House''' or in Mandarin '''賽珍珠紀念館''' ({{lang-zh|p=Sai Zhenzhu Jinianguan}}) along the West Wall of the university's north campus.

Pearl Buck's papers and literary manuscripts are currently housed at Pearl S. Buck International<ref>{{Citation| title = Pearl S. Buck International: House Archives| url = http://www.pearlsbuck.org/archivescollection| access-date = October 24, 2016| archive-date = June 10, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170610131441/https://www.pearlsbuck.org/archivescollection| url-status = dead}}</ref> and the [[West Virginia & Regional History Center]].<ref>{{Citation| title = Pearl S. Buck Collection: About the Collection|url =https://pearlsbuck.lib.wvu.edu/collection| access-date = October 24, 2016}}</ref>

== Selected works==

=== Autobiographies ===
*''My Several Worlds: A Personal Record'' (New York: John Day, 1954)
*''My Several Worlds'' – abridged for younger readers by Cornelia Spencer (New York: John Day, 1957)
*''[[A Bridge for Passing]]'' (New York: John Day, 1962) – autobiographical account of the filming of the [[The Big Wave (film)|film adaptation]] of Buck's children's book, ''[[The Big Wave]]''

=== Biographies ===
*''[[The Exile (Buck book)|The Exile: Portrait of an American Mother]]'' (New York: John Day, 1936) –&nbsp;about her mother, Caroline Stulting Sydenstricker (1857–1921); serialized in ''[[Woman's Home Companion]]'' magazine (10/1935–3/1936)
*''[[Fighting Angel]]: Portrait of a Soul'' (New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1936) –&nbsp;about her father, [[Absalom Sydenstricker]] (1852–1931)
*''The Spirit and the Flesh'' (New York: John Day, 1944) – published the two above-mentioned biographies in one volume - ''Fighting Angel: Portrait of a Soul'' and ''The Exile: Portrait of an American Mother''.

=== Novels ===
{{See also|List of bestselling novels in the United States in the 1930s}}
*''[[East Wind: West Wind]]'' (New York: John Day, 1930)<ref>{{Cite web| title = East Wind: West Wind by Pearl S. Buck| work = Fantasticfiction| access-date = April 6, 2015| url = http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/pearl-s-buck/east-wind-west-wind.htm}}</ref> – working title ''Winds of Heaven''
*''[[The Good Earth]]'' (New York: John Day, 1931); ''The House of Earth'' trilogy #1
*''[[Sons (novel)|Sons]]'' (New York: John Day, 1933); ''The House of Earth'' trilogy #2; serialized in [[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|''Cosmopolitan'']] (4–11/1932)
*''[[A House Divided (novel)|A House Divided]]'' (New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1935); ''The House of Earth'' trilogy #3
*''The House of Earth'' (trilogy) (New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1935) – includes: ''The Good Earth'', ''Sons'', ''A House Divided''
*''All Men Are Brothers'' (New York: John Day, 1933; revised 1937) – a translation by Buck of the Chinese classical prose epic ''[[Water Margin]]'' (Shui Hu Zhuan)
*''[[The Mother (Pearl S. Buck novel)|The Mother]]'' (New York: John Day, 1933) – serialized in ''Cosmopolitan'' (7/1933–1/1934) 
*''This Proud Heart'' (New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1938) – serialized in ''[[Good Housekeeping]]'' magazine (8/1937–2/1938)
*''The Patriot'' (New York: John Day, 1939)
*''Other Gods: An American Legend'' (New York: John Day, 1940) – excerpt serialized in ''[[Good Housekeeping]]'' magazine as "American Legend" (12/1938–5/1939)
*''[[China Sky]]'' (New York: John Day, 1941) – China trilogy #1; serialized in ''[[Collier's]] Weekly'' magazine (2–4/1941)
*''China Gold: A Novel of War-torn China'' (New York: John Day, 1942) – China trilogy #2; serialized in ''Collier's Weekly'' magazine (2–4/1942)
*''[[Dragon Seed (novel)|Dragon Seed]]'' (New York: John Day, 1942) – serialized in ''[[Asia (magazine)|Asia]]'' (9/1941–2/1942)
*''The Promise'' (New York: John Day, 1943) – sequel to ''Dragon Seed''; serialized in ''Asia and the Americas'' (''Asia'') (11/1942–10/1943)
*''China Flight'' (Philadelphia: Triangle Books/Blakiston Company, 19453) – China trilogy #3; serialized in ''Collier's Weekly'' magazine (2–4/1943)
*''Portrait of a Marriage'' (New York: John Day, 1945) – illustrated by [[Charles Hargens]]
*''The Townsman'' (New York: John Day, 1945) – as John Sedges
*''Pavilion of Women'' (New York: John Day, 1946) – made into a feature film ''[[Pavilion of Women]]'' (Universal Focus, 2001)
*''The Angry Wife'' (New York: John Day, 1947) – as John Sedges
*''[[Peony (novel)|Peony]]'' (New York: John Day, 1948) – published in the UK as ''The Bondmaid'' (London: T. Brun, 1949); – serialized in ''Cosmopolitan'' (3–4/1948)
*''Kinfolk'' (New York: John Day, 1949) – serialized in ''[[Ladies' Home Journal]]'' (10/1948–2/1949)
*''The Long Love'' (New York: John Day, 1949) – as John Sedges
*''God's Men'' (New York: John Day, 1951)
*''Sylvia'' (1951) –&nbsp;alternate title ''No Time for Love'', serialized in ''[[Redbook]]'' magazine (1951)
*''Bright Procession'' (New York: John Day, 1952) – as John Sedges
*''The Hidden Flower'' (New York: John Day, 1952) – serialized in ''Woman's Home Companion'' magazine (3–4/1952)
*''Come, My Beloved'' (New York: John Day, 1953)
*''Voices in the House'' (New York: John Day, 1953) – as John Sedges
*''[[Imperial Woman]]'' The Story of the Last Empress of China (New York: John Day, 1956) –&nbsp;about [[Empress Dowager Cixi]]; serialized in ''Woman's Home Companion'' (3–4/1956)
*''[[Letter from Peking]]'' (New York: John Day, 1957)
*''American Triptych: Three John Sedges Novels'' (New York: John Day, 1958) –&nbsp;includes ''The Townsman'', ''The Long Love'', ''Voices in the House''
*''Command the Morning'' (New York: John Day, 1959)
*''Satan Never Sleeps'' (New York: Pocket Books, 1962)
*''[[The Living Reed]]'' ''A Novel of Korea'' (New York: John Day, 1963)
*''Death in the Castle'' (New York: John Day, 1965)
*''The Time Is Noon'' (New York: John Day, 1966)
*''The New Year'' (New York: John Day, 1968)
*''The Three Daughters of Madame Liang'' (London: Methuen, 1969)
*''[[Mandala (novel)|Mandala]]: A Novel of India'' (New York: John Day, 1970)
*''The Goddess Abides'' (New York: John Day, 1972)
*''All under Heaven'' (New York: John Day, 1973)
*''The Rainbow'' (New York: John Day, 1974)
*''The Eternal Wonder'' (believed to have been written shortly before her death, published in October 2013)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/business/media/a-pearl-buck-novel-new-after-4-decades.html|title=A Pearl Buck Novel, New After 4 Decades|author=Julie Bosman|date=May 21, 2013|newspaper=[[New York Times]]}}</ref>

=== Non-fiction ===
*''Is There a Case for Foreign Missions?'' (New York: John Day, 1932)
*''The Chinese Novel: Nobel Lecture Delivered before the Swedish Academy at Stockholm'', December 12, 1938 (New York: John Day, 1939)<ref>{{Citation| title = Pearl S. Buck's Nobel Lecture|url =https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1938/buck/lecture/}}</ref>
*''Of Men and Women'' (New York: John Day, 1941) – Essays
*''American Unity and Asia'' (New York: John Day, 1942) – UK edition titled ''Asia and Democracy'', London: Macmillan, 1943) – Essays
*''What America Means to Me'' (New York: John Day, 1943) – UK edition (London: Methuen, 1944) – Essays
*''Talk about Russia (with Masha Scott)'' (New York: John Day, 1945) – serialized in ''Asia and the Americas'' magazine (''Asia'') as ''Talks with Masha'' (1945)
*''Tell the People: Talks with [[James Yen]] about the Mass Education Movement'' (New York: John Day, 1945)
*''How It Happens: Talk about the German People, 1914–1933'', with Erna von Pustau (New York: John Day, 1947)
*''American Argument'' with [[Eslanda Goode Robeson]] (New York: John Day, 1949)
*''The Child Who Never Grew'' (New York: John Day, 1950)
*''The Man Who Changed China: The Story of Sun Yat-sen'' (New York: John Day, 1953) –&nbsp;for children
*''Friend to Friend: A Candid Exchange between Pearl S. Buck and [[Carlos P. Romulo]]'' (New York: John Day, 1958)
*''For Spacious Skies'' (1966)
*''The People of Japan'' (1966)
*''To My Daughters, with Love'' (New York: John Day, 1967)
*''The Kennedy Women'' (1970)
*''China as I See It'' (1970)
*''[[The Story Bible]]'' (1971)
*''Pearl S. Buck's Oriental Cookbook'' (1972)
*''Words of Love'' (1974)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abebooks.com/9780381982638/Words-Love-Pearl-Buck-0381982637/plp|title=9780381982638: Words of Love – AbeBooks – Pearl S Buck: 0381982637|website=www.abebooks.com}}</ref>

=== Short stories ===
=== Collections ===
*''The First Wife and Other Stories'' (London: Methuen, 1933) – includes: "The First Wife", "The Old Mother", "The Frill", "The Quarrell", "Repatriated", "The Rainy Day", "Wang Lung", "The Communist", "Father Andrea", "The New Road", "Barren Spring", *"The Refugees", "Fathers and Mothers", "The Good River"
*''Today and Forever: Stories of China'' (New York: John Day, 1941) – includes: "The Lesson", The Angel", "Mr. Binney's Afternoon", "The Dance", "Shanghai Scene", "Hearts Come Home", "His Own Country", "Tiger! Tiger!", "Golden flower", "The Face of Buddha", "Guerrilla Mother", "A Man's Foes", "The Old Demon"
*''Twenty-seven Stories'' (Garden City, NY: Sun Dial Press, 1943) –&nbsp;includes (from ''The First Wife and Other Stories''): "The First Wife", "The Old Mother", "The Frill", "The Quarrell", "Repatriated", "The Rainy Day", Wang Lung", "The Communist", "Father Andrea", "The New Road", "Barren Spring", *"The Refugees", "Fathers and Mothers", "The Good River"; and (from ''Today and Forever: Stories of China''): "The Lesson", The Angel", "Mr. Binney's Afternoon", "The Dance", "Shanghai Scene", "Hearts Come Home", "His Own Country", "Tiger! Tiger!", "Golden flower", "The Face of Buddha", "Guerrilla Mother", "A Man's Foes", "The Old Demon"
*''Far and Near: Stories of Japan, China, and America'' (New York: John Day, 1947) –&nbsp;includes: "The Enemy", "Home Girl", "Mr. Right", "The Tax Collector", "A Few People", "Home to Heaven", "Enough for a Lifetime", "Mother and Sons", "Mrs. Mercer and Her Self", "The Perfect Wife", "Virgin birth", "The Truce", "Heat Wave", "The One Woman"
*''Fourteen Stories'' (New York: John Day, 1961) –&nbsp;includes: "A Certain Star," "The Beauty", "Enchantment", "With a Delicate Air", "Beyond Language", "Parable of Plain People", "The Commander and the Commissar", "Begin to Live", "The Engagement", "Melissa", "Gift of Laughter", "Death and the Dawn", "The Silver Butterfly", "Francesca"
*''Hearts Come Home and Other Stories'' (New York: Pocket Books, 1962)
*''Stories of China'' (1964)
*''Escape at Midnight and Other Stories'' (1964)
*''The Good Deed, and other Stories of Asia, Past and Present'' (1970)
*''East and West Stories'' (1975)
*''Secrets of the Heart: Stories'' (1976)
*''The Lovers and Other Stories'' (1977)
*''Mrs. Stoner and the Sea and Other Stories'' (1978)
*''The Woman Who Was Changed and Other Stories'' (1979)
*''Beauty Shop Series'': "Revenge in a Beauty Shop" (1939) –&nbsp;original title "The Perfect Hairdresser"
*''Beauty Shop Series'': "Gold Mine" (1940)
*''Beauty Shop Series'': "Mrs. Whittaker's Secret"/"The Blonde Brunette" (1940)
*''Beauty Shop Series'': "Procession of Song" (1940)
*''Beauty Shop Series'': "Snake at the Picnic" (1940) – published as "Seed of Sin" (1941)
*''Beauty Shop Series'': "Seed of Sin" (1941) – published as "Snake at the Picnic (1940)

=== Individual short stories ===
*Unknown title (1902) –&nbsp;first published story, pen name "Novice", ''Shanghai Mercury''
*"The Real Santa Claus" (c. 1911)
*"Village by the Sea" (1911)
*"By the Hand of a Child" (1912)
*"The Hours of Worship" (1914)
*"When 'Lof' Comes" (1914)
*"The Clutch of the Ancients" (1924)
*"The Rainy Day" (c. 1925)
*"A Chinese Woman Speaks" (1926)
*"Lao Wang, the Farmer" (1926)
*"The Solitary Priest" (1926)
*"The Revolutionist" (1928) –&nbsp;later published as "Wang Lung" (1933)
*"The Wandering Little God" (1928)
*"Father Andrea" (1929)
*"The New Road" (1930)
*"Singing to her Death" (1930)
*"The Barren Spring" (1931)
*"The First Wife" (1931)
*"The Old Chinese Nurse" (1932)
*"The Quarrel" (1932)
*"The Communist" (1933)
*"Fathers and Mothers" (1933)
*"The Frill" (1933)
*"Hidden is the Golden Dragon" (1933)
*"The Lesson" (1933) –&nbsp;later published as "No Other Gods" (1936; original title used in short story collections)
*"The Old Mother" (1933)
*"The Refugees" (1933)
*"Repatriated" (1933)
*"The Return" (1933)
*"The River" (1933) –&nbsp;later published as "The Good River" (1939)
*"The Two Women" (1933)
*"The Beautiful Ladies" (1934) –&nbsp;later published as "Mr. Binney's Afternoon" (1935)
*"Fool's Sacrifice" (1934)
*"Shanghai Scene" (1934)
*"Wedding and Funeral" (1934)
*"Between These Two" (1935)
*"The Dance" (1935)
*"Enough for a Lifetime" (1935)
*"Hearts Come Home" (1935)
*"Heat Wave" (1935)
*"His Own Country" (1935)
*"The Perfect Wife" (1935)
*"Vignette of Love" (1935) –&nbsp;later published as "Next Saturday and Forever" (1977)
*"The Crusade" (1936)
*"Strangers Are Kind" (1936)
*"The Truce" (1936)
*"What the Heart Must" (1937) – later published as "Someone to Remember" (1947)
*"The Angel" (1937)
*"Faithfully" (1937)
*"Ko-Sen, the Sacrificed" (1937)
*"Now and Forever" (1937) – serialized in ''[[Woman's Home Companion]]'' magazine (10/1936–3/1937)
*"The Woman Who Was Changed" (1937) – serialized in ''[[Redbook]]'' magazine (7–9/1937)
*"The Pearls of O-lan" –&nbsp;from ''The Good Earth'' (1938)
*"Ransom" (1938)
*"Tiger! Tiger!" (1938)
*"Wonderful Woman" (1938) – serialized in ''Redbook'' magazine (6–8/1938)
*"For a Thing Done" (1939) –&nbsp;originally titled "While You Are Here"
*"The Old Demon" (1939) –&nbsp;reprinted in ''Great Modern Short Stories: An Anthology of Twelve Famous Stories and Novelettes'', selected, and with a foreword and biographical notes by [[Bennett Cerf]] (New York: The Modern library, 1942)
*"The Face of Gold" (1940, in ''Saturday Evening Post'') –&nbsp;later published as "The Face of Buddha" (1941)
*"Golden Flower" (1940)
*"Iron" (1940) – later published as "A Man's Foes" (1940)
*"The Old Signs Fail" (1940)
*"Stay as You Are" (1940) –&nbsp;serialized in [[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|''Cosmopolitan'']] (3–7/1940)
*"There Was No Peace" (1940) –&nbsp;later published as "Guerrilla Mother" (1941)
*"Answer to Life" (novella; 1941)
*"More Than a Woman" (1941) –&nbsp;originally titled "Deny It if You Can"
*"Our Daily Bread" (1941) –&nbsp;originally titled "A Man's Daily Bread, 1–3", serialized in ''Redbook'' magazine (2–4/1941), longer version published as ''Portrait of a Marriage'' (1945)
*''The Enemy'' (1942, ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'') –&nbsp;staged by the Indian "Aamra Kajon" (Drama Society), on the Bengal Theatre Festival 2019<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thestatesman.com/entertainment/theatre/say-no-war-1502738956.html |title=Play review {{!}} ''The Enemy'': Say no to war |publisher=The Statesman |date=March 15, 2019 |access-date=September 13, 2019 }}</ref>
*"John-John Chinaman" (1942) –&nbsp;original title "John Chinaman"
*"The Long Way 'Round" – serialized in ''Cosmopolitan'' (9/1942–2/1943)
*"Mrs. Barclay's Christmas Present" (1942) – later published as "Gift of Laughter" (1943)
*"Descent into China" (1944)
*"Journey for Life" (1944) –&nbsp;originally titled "Spark of Life"
*"The Real Thing" (1944) – serialized in ''Cosmopolitan'' (2–6/1944); originally intendeds as a serial "Harmony Hill" (1938)
*"Begin to Live" (1945)
*"Mother and Sons" (1945)
*"A Time to Love" (1945) –&nbsp;later published under its original title "The Courtyards of Peace" (1969)
*"Big Tooth Yang" (1946) –&nbsp;later published as "The Tax Collector" (1947)
*"The Conqueror's Girl" (1946) – later published as "Home Girl" (1947)
*"Faithfully Yours" (1947)
*"Home to Heaven" (1947)
*"Incident at Wang's Corner" (1947) – later published as "A Few People" (1947)
*"Mr. Right" (1947)
*"Mrs. Mercer and Her Self" (1947)
*"The One Woman" (1947)
*"Virgin Birth" (1947)
*"Francesca" (''[[Good Housekeeping]]'' magazine, 1948)
*"The Ember" (1949)
*"The Tryst" (1950)
*"Love and the Morning Calm" – serialized in ''Redbook'' magazine (1–4/1951)
*"The Man Called Dead" (1952)
*"Death and the Spring" (1953)
*"Moon over Manhattan" (1953)
*"The Three Daughters" (1953)
*"The Unwritten Rules" (1953)
*"The Couple Who Lived on the Moon" (1953) – later published as "The Engagement" (1961)
*"A Husband for Lili" (1953) – later published as "The Good Deed" (1969)
*"The Heart's Beginning" (1954)
*"The Shield of Love" (1954)
*"Christmas Day in the Morning" (1955) – later published as "The Gift That Lasts a Lifetime"
*"Death and the Dawn" (1956)
*"Mariko" (1956)
*"A Certain Star" (1957)
*"Honeymoon Blues" (1957)
*"China Story" (1958)
*"Leading Lady" (1958) – alternately titled "Open the Door, Lady"
*"The Secret" (1958)
*"With a Delicate Air" (1959)
*"The Bomb (Dr. Arthur Compton)" (1959)
*"Heart of a Man" (1959)
*"Melissa" (1960)
*"The Silver Butterfly" (1960)
*"The Beauty" (1961)
*"Beyond Language" (1961)
*"The Commander and the Commissar" (1961)
*"Enchantment" (1961)
*"Parable of Plain People" (1961)
*"A Field of Rice" (1962)
*"A Grandmother's Christmas" (1962) – later published as "This Day to Treasure" (1972)
*""Never Trust the Moonlight" (1962) – later published as "The Green Sari" (1962)
*"The Cockfight, 1963
*"A Court of Love" (1963)
*"Escape at Midnight" (1963)
*"The Lighted Window" (1963)
*"Night Nurse" (1963)
*"The Sacred Skull" (1963)
*"The Trap" (1963)
*"India, My India" (1964)
*"Ranjit and the Tiger" (1964)
*"A Certain Wisdom" (1967, in ''[[Woman's Day]]'' magazine)
*"Stranger Come Home" (1967)
*"The House They Built" (1968, in ''[[Boys' Life]]'' magazine)
*"The Orphan in My Home" (1968)
*"Secrets of the Heart" (1968)
*"All the Days of Love and Courage" 1969) – later published as "The Christmas Child" (1972)
*"Dagger in the Dark" (1969)
*"Duet in Asia" (1969; written 1953
*"Going Home" (1969)
*"Letter Home" (1969; written 1943)
*"Sunrise at Juhu" (1969)
*"Two in Love" (1970) – later published as "The Strawberry Vase" (1976)
*"The Gifts of Joy" (1971)
*"Once upon a Christmas" (1971)
*"The Christmas Secret" (1972)
*"Christmas Story" (1972)
*"In Loving Memory" (1972) – later published as "Mrs. Stoner and the Sea" (1976)
*"The New Christmas" (1972)
*"The Miracle Child" (1973)
*"Mrs. Barton Declines" (1973) – later published as "Mrs. Barton's Decline" and "Mrs. Barton's Resurrection" (1976)
*"Darling Let Me Stay" (1975) – excerpt from "Once upon a Christmas" (1971)
*"Dream Child" (1975)
*"The Golden Bowl" (1975; written 1942)
*"Letter from India" (1975)
*"To Whom a Child is Born" (1975)
*"Alive again" (1976)
*"Come Home My Son" (1976)
*"Here and Now" (1976; written 1941)
*"Morning in the Park" (1976; written 1948)
*"Search for a Star" (1976)
*"To Thine Own Self" (1976)
*"The Woman in the Waves" (1976; written 1953)
*"The Kiss" (1977)
*"The Lovers" (1977)
*"Miranda" (1977)
*"The Castle" (1979; written 1949)
*"A Pleasant Evening" (1979; written 1948)
*''Christmas Miniature'' (New York: John Day, 1957) –&nbsp;in UK as ''Christmas Mouse'' (London: Methuen, 1959) –&nbsp;illustrated by Anna Marie Magagna
*''Christmas Ghost'' (New York: John Day, 1960) –&nbsp;illustrated by Anna Marie Magagna

''Unpublished stories''
*"The Good Rich Man" (1937, unsold)
*"The Sheriff" (1937, unsold)
*"High and Mighty" (1938, unsold)
*"Mrs. Witler's Husband" (1938, unsold)
*"Mother and Daughter" (1938, unsold; alternate title "My Beloved")
*"Mother without Child" (1940, unsold)
*"Instead of Diamonds" (1953, unsold)

''Unpublished stories, undated''
*"The Assignation" (submitted not sold)
*"The Big Dance" (unsold)
*"The Bleeding Heart" (unsold)
*"The Bullfrog" (unsold)
*"The Day at Dawn" (unpublished)
*"The Director"
*"Heart of the Jungle (submitted, unsold)
*"Images" (sold but unpublished)
*"Lesson in Biology" / "Useless Wife" (unsold)
*"Morning in Okinawa" (unsold)
*"Mrs. Jones of Jerrell Street" (unsold)
*"One of Our People" (sold, unpublished)
*"Summer Fruit" (unsold)
*"Three Nights with Love" (submitted, unsold) – original title "More Than a Woman"
*"Too Many Flowers" (unsold)
*"Wang the Ancient" (unpublished)
*"Wang the White Boy" (unpublished)

''Stories: Date unknown''
*"Church Woman"
*"Crucifixion"
*"Dear Son"
*"Escape Me Never" – alternate title of "For a Thing Done"
*"The Great Soul"
*"Her Father's Wife"
*"Horse Face"
*"Lennie"
*"The Magic Dragon"
*"Mrs. Jones of Jerrell Street" (unsold)
*"Night of the Dance"
*"One and Two"
*"Pleasant Vampire"
*"Rhoda and Mike"
*"The Royal Family"
*"The Searcher"
*"Steam and Snow"
*"Tinder and the Flame"
*"The War Chest"
*"To Work the Sleeping Land"

=== Children's books and stories ===
*''The Young Revolutionist'' (New York: John Day, 1932) –&nbsp;for children
*''Stories for Little Children'' (New York: John Day, 1940) –&nbsp;pictures by Weda Yap
*"When Fun Begins" (1941)
*''The Chinese Children Next Door'' (New York: John Day, 1942)
*''The Water Buffalo Children'' (New York: John Day, 1943) –&nbsp;drawings by William Arthur Smith
*''Dragon Fish'' (New York: John Day, 1944) – illustrated by Esther Brock Bird
*''Yu Lan: Flying Boy of China'' (New York: John Day, 1945) –&nbsp;drawings by Georg T. Hartmann
*''[[The Big Wave]]'' (New York: John Day, 1948) –&nbsp;illustrated with prints by [[Hiroshige]] and [[Hokusai]] –&nbsp;for children
*''One Bright Day'' (New York: John Day, 1950) –&nbsp;published in the UK as ''One Bright Day and Other Stories for Children'' (1952)
*''The Beech Tree'' (New York: John Day, 1954) –&nbsp;illustrated by [[Kurt Werth]] –&nbsp;for children
*"Johnny Jack and His Beginnings" (New York: John Day, 1954)
* “Christmas Day in the Morning” (1955) (Copyright renewed 1983, illustrations copyright 2002 by Mark Buehner. Harper Collin’s Publishers. 
*''Christmas Miniature'' (1957) – published in the UK as ''The Christmas Mouse'' (1958)
*"The Christmas Ghost" (1960)
*"Welcome Child (1964)
*"The Big Fight" (1965)
*"The Little Fox in the Middle" (1966)
*''Matthew, Mark, Luke and John'' (New York: John Day, 1967) –&nbsp;set in South Korea
*"The Chinese Storyteller" (1971)
*"A Gift for the Children" (1973)
*"Mrs Starling's Problem" (1973)

=== Television credits ===
* ''[[Omnibus (American TV program)|Omnibus]]'' (1957) as herself [episode "Brewsie and Willie"]
* ''[[Person to Person]]'' (1956) as herself [season 3, episode 29]
* ''[[The Alcoa Hour]]'' (1956) - screenwriter [season 2, episode 2; "The Big Wave"]
* ''[[Robert Montgomery Presents]]'' (1957) - screenwriter [season 8, episode 26; "The Enemy"]

=== Film credits ===
*''[[The Good Earth (film)|The Good Earth]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Dragon Seed (film)|Dragon Seed]]'' (1944)
* ''[[China Sky (film)|China Sky]]'' (1945)
*''[[The Big Wave (film)|The Big Wave]]'' (1961) - Official film debut; Screenwriter [with [[Tad Danielewski]]] and executive producer
*''[[Guide (film)|The Guide]]'' (1965) - Screenwriter
*''[[China: The Roots of Madness]]'' (1967) as herself

== Awards and recognition ==
[[File:PearlSBuckRoomSign.jpg|thumb|Sign for the Pearl S. Buck Meeting Room, photographed outside of the Doylestown Branch of [[Bucks County, Pennsylvania|Bucks County]] Free Library in 2025.]]
*[[Pulitzer Prize for the Novel]]: ''[[The Good Earth]]'' (1932)
*[[William Dean Howells Medal]] (1935)
*[[Nobel Prize in Literature]] (1938)
*Child Study Association of America's Children's Book Award (now Bank Street Children's Book Committee's [[Josette Frank Award]]): ''[[The Big Wave]]'' (1948)

== Museums and historic houses ==
[[File:庐山赛珍珠别墅.JPG|thumb|Pearl S. Buck's study in Lushan Pearl S. Buck Villa]]

Several historic sites work to preserve and display artifacts from Pearl's profoundly multicultural life:
* The Pearl S. Buck Summer Villa, in [[Guling, Jiujiang|Kuling town]], [[Mount Lu]], [[Jiujiang]], China
* Pearl S. Buck House in Nanjing University, China [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pearl_Buck_Former_Residence_in_Nanjing_University.jpg]
* The Zhenjiang Pearl S. Buck Research Association and former residence in Zhenjiang, China [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pearl_Buck_Old_Residence.jpg]
* [[Pearl S. Buck Birthplace]] in [[Hillsboro, West Virginia]]
* [[Green Hills Farm]] in [[Bucks County, Pennsylvania]]
* The Pearl S. Buck Memorial Hall, Bucheon City, South Korea<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.psbi.org/site/PageServer?pagename=PSBH_Other_PSB_Historic_Places |title=Pearl S. Buck International: Other Pearl S. Buck Historic Places |publisher=Psbi.org |date=September 30, 2006 |access-date=February 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719103007/http://www.psbi.org/site/PageServer?pagename=PSBH_Other_PSB_Historic_Places |archive-date=July 19, 2011 }}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Christian feminism]]
*[[List of female Nobel laureates]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{citation| first = Peter J. |last = Conn |title = Pearl S. Buck: A Cultural Biography | place = Cambridge England; New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press |year = 1996 |isbn = 0-521-56080-2}}
* Harris, Theodore F. (in consultation with Pearl S. Buck), ''Pearl S. Buck: a Biography'' (John Day, 1969. {{ISBN|978-0-381-98113-6}})
** Theodore F. Harris (in consultation with Pearl S. Buck), ''Pearl S. Buck; a biography. Volume two: Her philosophy as expressed in her letters'' (John Day, 1971. {{ASIN|B002BAA2PU}})
* {{cite encyclopedia|first = Charles W | last = Hayford | chapter= Introduction | title = The Exile: Portrait of an American Mother | place = Norwalk, CT | publisher = EastBridge | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-1-59988-005-1}}.
* Hunt, Michael H. "Pearl Buck-Popular Expert on China, 1931-1949." ''Modern China'' 3.1 (1977): 33-64.
* Jean So, Richard. "Fictions of Natural Democracy: Pearl Buck, The Good Earth, and the Asian American Subject." ''Representations'' 112.1 (2010): 87-111.
* Kang, Liao. ''Pearl S. Buck: A Cultural Bridge across the Pacific''. (Westport, CT, London: Greenwood, Contributions to the Study of World Literature 77, 1997). {{ISBN|0-313-30146-8}}.
* Leong. Karen J. ''The China Mystique: Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong, Mayling Soong, and the Transformation of American Orientalism'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005). {{ISBN|0520244222}}
* Lipscomb, Elizabeth Johnston, Frances E. Webb and Peter J. Conn, eds., ''The Several Worlds of Pearl S. Buck: Essays Presented at a Centennial Symposium, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, March 26–28, 1992''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, Contributions in Women's Studies, 1994. {{ISBN|0313291527}}
* {{cite book|last=Roan|first=Jeanette|title=Envisioning Asia: On Location, Travel, and the Cinematic Geography of U.S. Orientalism|chapter=Knowing China: Accuracy, Authenticity and The Good Earth|year=2010|publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]]|location=[[Ann Arbor, Michigan]]|pages=113–55| isbn=978-0-472-05083-3|oclc=671655107 |title-link=Envisioning Asia}}
* Shaffer, Robert. "Women and international relations: Pearl S. Buck's critique of the Cold War." ''Journal of Women's History'' 11.3 (1999): 151-175.
* [[Hilary Spurling|Spurling, Hilary]]. ''Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China'' (London: Profile, 2010) {{ISBN|9781861978288}}
* Stirling, Nora B. ''Pearl Buck, a Woman in Conflict'' (Piscataway, NJ: New Century Publishers, 1983).
* Suh, Chris. ""America's Gunpowder Women" Pearl S. Buck and the Struggle for American Feminism, 1937–1941." ''Pacific Historical Review'' 88.2 (2019): 175-207. [https://online.ucpress.edu/phr/article-abstract/88/2/175/80966 online]
* {{citation|title= Het China-gevoel van Pearl S. Buck'' (The China-feeling of Pearl S. Buck)'' |publisher = Uitgeverij Brandt |year= 2021|first= Bettine |last= Vriesekoop|author-link= Bettine Vriesekoop}}.
* Wacker, Grant. "Pearl S. Buck and the Waning of the Missionary Impulse" ''Church history'' 72.4 (2003): 852-874.
* Xi Lian. ''The Conversion of Missionaries: Liberalism in American Protestant Missions in China, 1907–1932''. (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997). {{ISBN|027101606X}}
* [[Mari Yoshihara]]. ''Embracing the East: White Women and American Orientalism''. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). {{ISBN|019514533X}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Pearl S. Buck}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
;Digital collections
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/pearl-s-buck}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=54836 |name=Pearl S. Buck}}
* {{Librivox author |id=17015}}

;Physical collections
* [http://www.pearlsbcn.org/ The Zhenjiang Pearl S. Buck Research Association, China] (in Chinese & [http://www.pearlsbcn.org/e/ English])
* [http://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/Buck/ University of Pennsylvania website dedicated to Pearl S. Buck]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081208213058/http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/find-funding/grants/pf/pearl-s-buck-international-2006.html National Trust for Historic Preservation on the Pearl S. Buck House Restoration]
* {{cite web|title=Pearl S. Buck 5 cent issue|url=http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&mode=1&tid=2029350|work=Great Americans series|publisher=Smithsonian Institution National Postal Museum|access-date=March 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060920085046/http://www.arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&mode=1&tid=2029350|archive-date=September 20, 2006}}
* [http://pearlsbuck.lib.wvu.edu/ The Pearl S. Buck Literary Manuscripts and Other Collections at the West Virginia & Regional History Collection, WVU Libraries]
* Spring, Kelly. [https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/pearl-buck "Pearl Buck"]. National Women's History Museum.
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/1405 ''A House Divided'' Manuscript] at Dartmouth College Library

;Biographical information
* [http://www.worldcat.org/wcidentities/lccn-n79-26662 Pearl S. Buck fuller bibliography at WorldCat]
* {{Nobelprize|name=Pearl Buck}}
* {{Books and Writers |id=pearlbuc |name=Pearl S. Buck}}
* {{IMDb name|0118406}}
* [https://www.c-span.org/video/?79388-1/pearl-s-buck-cultural-biography Presentation by Peter Conn on ''Pearl S. Buck: A Cultural Biography'', March 5, 1997], [[C-SPAN]]

;Other links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150325073636/http://www.pearlsbuckbirthplace.com/ The Pearl S. Buck Birthplace in Pocahontas County West Virginia]
* [http://www.pearlsbuck.org/ Pearl S. Buck International]
*[http://noblib.internet-box.ch/NLEW.php?authorid=37 List of Works]
* [http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/buck_pearl_t.html Pearl Buck] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518135037/http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/buck_pearl_t.html |date=May 18, 2018 }} interviewed by [[Mike Wallace]] on ''The Mike Wallace Interview'' February 8, 1958
* {{find a Grave|144}}
* [https://vault.fbi.gov/Pearl%20Buck FBI Records: The Vault – Pearl Buck] at fbi.gov

{{Pearl S. Buck}}
{{Nobel Prize in Literature Laureates 1926–1950}}
{{1938 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{PulitzerPrize Fiction 1926–1950}}
{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{Protestant missions to China}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|China|Literature|Philadelphia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buck, Pearl S.}}
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[[Category:Pearl S. Buck|*]]