The Good Earth Trivia

Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge

Pearl Buck was a philanthropist, and spent most of her life devoted to humanitarian causes like women's rights, free speech, and abandoned children (source).

Ni hao, Sai Zhenzhu! Oh, don't speak Chinese? We mean: Hi, Pearl S. Buck! Sai Zhenzhu was Buck's Chinese name, and she is buried under a tombstone with that inscription (source).

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have this lady to thank. She established the first interracial and international adoption agency in the world (source).

Philatelists (stamp collectors) who love literature, rejoice. There is a Pearl S. Buck stamp just for you.

Buck wasn't involved with the casting of the movie adaptation of The Good Earth, but we should let you know that it features actors in yellowface in the lead roles (source). This caused some controversy even back in the day, when Asian-American actress Anna May Wong was passed over for the role of O-lan due to issues with the notorious Hays Code (source).