"Rural China" From The Transcultural Perspective

American writer Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) won Nobel Prize for Literature (1938) with her novel The Good Earth, which draws great attention and becomes a controversy. There has been a variety of articles on Pearl S. Buck and her works in China and abroad ever since the publication of her famous novel The Good Earth.This paper is based on the analysis of" rural China" of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth, which consists of seven parts:Introduction section deals with summarizing the achievements and conditions of foreign and domestic study of Pearl S. Buck and her works, pointing out advantages and disadvantages of the study at different phase, providing a historical and theoretical foundation on which the structure and methodology of the paper's formed. It also discusses the origin, major idea and structure of the paper, laying a foundation for the outspread of the paper.Chapter one deals with summarizing China's " the other" image in western mind from 19^th century to 1920s and 1930s, which is divided into 3 categories: western missionaries' view, thinkers 'view and writers' view. Then it focuses on the legacy of Pearl S. Buck's Chinese theme novels.Chapter two deals with concretely analyzing "rural China" of The Good Earth. After discussing the emergence of the concept of "rural China" and Pearl S. Buck's favor of "rural area", the paper concretely analyzes the composition of" rural China", mainly from the perspective of " the earth", religious concept, traditional family concept, countryside vs city and historical custom, etc.Chapter three mainly devotes to discussing the "truth "and "falseness" of "rural China" of The Good Earth through connecting it with the facts of Chinese countryside at that time. The paper also discusses the outlet of "rural China" and its solving methods by citing the example of James Yen's Rural Construction Movement, and cultural agreement of Pearl S. Buck and James Yen.