Pearl Buck in China (43 page)

79
“A little seed of anxiety
ED,
120. For the Sydenstrickers’ new house, see
ED,
119;
MSW,
100,
OLW,
49. This second Sydenstricker house (which no longer exists) stood behind the larger “Paxton house,” which is now the Pearl S. Buck Museum in Zhenjiang.

79
“I began again to think in Chinese
.”—
MSW,
98.

80
“Why did I never see
HD,
252.

80
“In all the time
ED,
126; see also
MSW,
98–100.

81
“it seemed nothing Pearl could do
ED,
130.

81
“I was always touched
MSW,
101.

81
“To other Americans in Zhenjiang
ED,
130.

81
high school for boys
—
Catalogue of the Chinkiang Presbyterian High School,
January 1915, PHS.

81
“It was a wonderful time
MSW,
118.

81
“He was the crest of a wave
MSW,
183. The next two quotes are from
MSW,
184, 185.

82
“The wonder is that none
MSW,
119.

82
“with the terrible sadness
“The Clutch of the Ancients,” by PB,
CR
55, August 1924, 520.

83
“They taught me far more
MSW,
102.

83
“It seems to me now
MSW,
107.

83
“far more Chinese in his mentality
MSW,
109.

83
Her field of sexual experimentation
For the mixed-race student, see chapter 2. For the shipboard affair and the Standard Oil boyfriends, see
MSW,
98, 108; THi, 99–100. Further information from a letter from Emma White to Nora Stirling, November 20, n.d. [1975], and interviews with Emma White, NSC.

84
‘He’ll never marry you
TN,
161.

84
“I listened and reflected
MSW,
109.

84
Cornelia Morgan
—Morgan founded the Mid Yunnan Bethel School for the China Inland Mission; see
MSW,
110, THi, 113.

85
‘I know it,’ she said
MSW
, 110.

85
“Her flesh fell away
…’
Ex,
286.

85
“I studied my Chinese books
MSW,
115. The next two quotes are from
MSW,
117, 99.

86
“Born a generation earlier
FA,
210.

86
“Since those days
Ex,
283.

86
Neale Carter
—See
Ex,
60, 72–73, 77, 240, 270.

86
“The word ‘flesh’
—AS’s annotations in his copy (in the possession of Nanjing University Library) of
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit as Revealed in the Scriptures, and in Personal Experience,
by R. A. Torry, New York, 1910, 7, 59.

87
“he did not enjoy whimsy
Ex,
231.

87
“I sat in horror
EWWW,
142.

87
“I began what was to be
MSW,
117.

88
“repressed, strong, vigorous
FA,
189.

89
“She did the things
Ex,
292; for Carie’s house, see
Ex,
290–93.

89
“The failure of missions
MSW,
120.

90
“I think before all others
MSW,
126.

90
“When in 1916
This and the next two quotes are from
MSW,
127.
New Youth (Hsin Ch’ing-nien)
published Hu Shi’s article “Some Tentative Suggestions for the Reform of Chinese Literature” in January 1917.

91
“vivid, articulate
MSW,
128.

91
“This was an enormous release
MSW,
127–28.

C
HAPTER 4

92
a fellow student at Cornell University
—Hu Shi (1891–1962) entered the agricultural college at Cornell in 1910, the same year as JLB (1890–1975.)

92
“that darling Mrs. Sydenstricker’s daughter
JLB, letter to his parents, July 23, 1916, NSC. The next two quotes are from his letter of September 19, 1916.

92
“She was worth it
,” JLB interview, NSC. JLB said they had met four or five times, and PB confirmed it in THi, 112.

92
“like a nice big overgrown farmboy,”
—This and the next quote from MCG interview, NSC.

92
Sunday school teaching
—JLB interview, NSC.

93
“He was not at all religious
MSW,
129.

93
“I am happier every day,”
PB, letter to EW, April 17, [1917], NSC.

93
“downright ugliness”
This and the next quote from
MSW,
135; see MGC interview NSC.

93
“The bare willow trees
MSW,
136.

94
“the garden seemed part
MSW,
135; further information from PB, letter to Grace and Vincent Buck, JLB’s parents, October 14, [1917], NSC.

94
“My new housekeeper
JLB, letter to Clifford Buck, September 7, 1917, NSC.

95
“the economic salvation
This and the next quote from T. F. Carter, letter to Mr. Henry, New York, October 15, 1914, PHS.

95
“Poor devil
Paul Buck interview, June 26, 1975, NSC.

95
“He had no idea
GE,
115.

96
“They would bend down
MSW,
144.

96
“literally hundreds
This and the next quote from PB, letter to Bucks, April 8, 1918, NSC.

96
“They were having fun
This and the next two quotes from MCG interview, November 29, 1975, NSC.

97
“You see, she understood
MCG, letter to Nora Stirling, July 19, 1977, NSC.

97
“a world as distant
MSW,
129. The next quote is
MSW,
from 140.

98
“people spoke in syllables
GE,
113. For descriptions of Anhui home life, see JLB, letter to Bucks, February 28, 1916, NSC.

98
“The land stretched out
HD,
19, 22.

98
His two monumental statistical surveys
—
Chinese Farm Economy,
Chicago, 1930;
Land Utilisation in China: A study of 16,786 Farms in 168 Localities, and 38,256 Farm Families in 22 Provinces in China, 1929–33
, 3 vols., University of Nanking, 1937. Statistics and quotes in this paragraph come from
Chinese Farm Economy,
357, 332, 375, 395, 402, 404, 414, 415.

99
“There was something eloquent
Sons,
156.

100
“so charming, so virile
MSW,
255. The next quote is from
MSW,
146.

100
“He has a great future
PB, letter to Bucks, April 8, 1918, NSC.

100
“situations which limit or affect
This and the next quote are from JLB,
Chinese Farm Economy,
427.

100
Honan-Shandung Education Association
See JLB, letter to Bucks, December 1, 1919, NSC; “Practical Plans for the Introduction of Agriculture into a Middle and Primary School,” by T. L. Buck,
CR
50, May 1919 (the initial “T” was clearly a misprint since this paper was given at the Honan-Shandung Education Association, of which JLB was chairman, and the author identifies himself as having worked in Nanxuzhou since 1916.)

101
Lossing’s questionnaires
—
MSW,
215; JLB had learned this method as a student from his Cornell professor, George Warren, see
Agricultural Economics at Cornell: A History, 1900–1990,
by Bernard F. Stanton, Ithaca, New York, 2001, 20–22.

101
“the elders, merchants and teachers
T. E. Carter, letter to Dr. Henry Sloane Coffin, minister of the Madison Avenue church sponsoring Nanxuzhou station, December 5, 1912, PHS.

101
“the testing of new grains
From JLB, “Practical Plans.”

101
“Mr. Wang the farmer
—JLB, letter to Bucks, January 12, 1919, NSC; and see
“Agricultural Work of the American Presbyterian Mission at Nanhsuchou, Anhwei, China, 1919,” by JLB,
CR
51, June 1920, 415.

101
“idle, reckless
PB, letter to Bucks, September 17, 1917, NSC.

102
“filling the street
GE,
344–45.

102
One of these battles
JLB, letter to Bucks, October 8, 1918, NSC.

102
“At least once or twice a year
MSW,
149.

102
“This does not tell
This and the next quote are from
ED,
140.

103
“I defy any bandit
PB, report to Mrs. Coffin, the minister’s wife, at Madison Avenue church, December 12, 1918, NSC.

103
“He seems so busy
PB, letter to Bucks, February 2, 1918, NSC.

103
“Agriculture was his life
MGC interview, NSC.

103
“an endless stream
ED,
138.

104
The enchantment of moonlight
MSW,
136.

104
“a tall and ample figure
MSW,
140.

105
“by being kind
Confucius,
Analects,
1:10.

105
“Madame Chang remains
MSW,
140. The next quote is from
MSW,
141.

105
“The Buddhist funeral priests
MSW,
151; see also THi, 115.

105
“If Madame Wu felt this
MSW,
141.

106
“a ponderous dowager
“In China Too,” by PB,
Atlantic Monthly,
January 1924, reprinted in
MSW,
163.

106
“none of my friends
MSW,
140. The next quote is from
MSW,
141.

106
“I myself deliberately
Of Men and Women,
by PB (New York, 1941; Methuen, London, 1942), 26.

107
a family named Li
—
MSW,
144–45.

107
“that they were as good as boys
The Craighills of China,
by Marian G. Craighill, Ambler, Pennsylvania 1972, 26.

107
“they looked like shoes
MSW,
165. The next quote is from MSW, 147.

108
“She had a great ability
MGC interview, NSC.

108
“I played the wedding march
PB, letter to parents, October 14, 1917 (the sequel is in a letter dated November 18, 1917), NSC. For the Hsu wives, see
MSW,
150.

109
“Once the breathing stopped
MSW,
138.

109
“the last we heard
PB, letter to Bucks, February 2, 1918, NSC.

109
“We had to,”
said Marian MGC interview, NSC.

110
“How strange!
PB, letter to Mrs. Coffin, December 12, 1918, NSC.

110
“flat and dirty and small
MGC interview, NSC.

110
“the lack of sanitation
MSW,
171.

111
“what we consider sins
Ruth Osborn interview, NSC.

111
“girls knew from the first
MSW,
151–52.

111
“the terrible degradation
PB, letter to Bucks, February 2, 1918, NSC.

111
“unwashed, garlic-filled humanity
PB, letter to Mrs. Coffin, December 12, 1918, NSC.

111
“I have
sole
charge PB, letter to EW, August 29, [1918].

111
“How can we save her PB
, letter to Mrs. Coffin, December 12, 1918, NSC.

112
“The average is three or four
PB, letter to Bucks, March 15, 1919, NSC; see also
MSW,
146.

112
“hard-featured, envious, curious
Chester,
Light and Shadows of the Mission World,
49.

112
“It is the supreme moment
“A Brief Statement concerning the Need of a New Station in the Province of Anhwei, China,” by Thomas Carter n.d. [1911], PHS.

113
“It is just the sort of mission life
T. Carter, letter to Dr. Coffin, December 5, 1912, PHS. The next two quotes are from letters of March 30, 1914 and December 10, 1914.