讀書筆記
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I read Chapter 20–24 of the book The Good Earth. stated some events that occurred in Wang Lung’s family after he became wealthy
1) (A) Cp.20. Wang Lung bought the Lotus back home.
Wang Lung’s uncle, returned suddenly. He stood in the door. He grinned loosely at them as they sat at their morning meal. And he said, “ I heard you were rich, now I will fetch my wife and my son, in this great house of yours it will never be missed what we eat.” Wang Lung did not dare to say anything, and was exceedingly angry. And for three days he did not go into the town.
And he was still never satisfied of his love. The wife of Wang Lung’s uncle saw and cried out, “Now Wang Lung is seeking to pluck a flower somewhere.”
This Wang Lung heard his uncle’s wife say one early morning, “ I have seen many a man, and when one smooths his hair, then there is a new woman.” There came a broken sound from O-lan, but his uncle’s wife said again, “ It is not for you to repine when he has money and buys himself another to bring her to his house, for all men are so.”
Wang Lung hear upon his bed. Now suddenly did he see how to satisfy his hunger. He would buy her and bring her to his house. And he went out to the wife of his uncle and he said, “You are right. I have land to feed us all.” “But who will negotiate for me.”
And she said, “Who is the keeper of the woman?” And when he told her it was Cuckoo, she said easily, “That one! it is a simple matter.”
Now Wang Lung could not bear to sleep with O-lan, he called his laborers to build another court. But in all this he was ashamed to ask O-lan anything. One morning O-lan burst into tears and wept aloud, “ I have borne you sons—”. And he was ashamed before her.
Thus it went until one day his uncle’s wife came and said, “The thing is complete. The master of the tea house will do it for a hundred pieces of silver, and the girl will come for jade earrings and a ring of gold.”
On a shining glittering fiery day in the eighth moon, she came to his house. From afar Wang Lung saw her coming. She rode in a closed sedan chair, and behind it followed Cuckoo. Cuckoo hailed him merrily. Then she went to the chair and she said, “Come out, here is your house and here your lord.” Then the curtain was lifted and he saw the girl Lotus. She took Cuckoo’s hand and stepped out. And as she passed him, she whispered, “Where is my apartment?” Then his uncle’s wife came to her other side and they led the girl into the court and into the new rooms.
At this time O-lan had not come near the house. At dawn she had taken a hoe ,and she called the children and she took a little food and she had not returned. But when night came on she entered, she prepared food and slept alone upon her bed.
Day after day Wang Lung went into the room where Lotus lay. She lay while the woman Cuckoo bathed her. For Lotus had said wilfully that Cuckoo must stay with her as her servant.
And Wang Lung ate and drunk of his love and he was satisfied.
（B) Cp. 21. After Lotus arrived , disputes arose in the family.
More than one woman under one roof is not for peace. But Wang Lung had not foreseen it.
For one thing, there was trouble between O-lan and Cuckoo. O-lan, when she saw Cuckoo, grew angry with a deep and sullen anger. Cuckoo called out to O-lan well enough when first she saw her, “Well, here we are in a house together again.” But O-lan answers nothing but she went into the room where Wang Lung sat, and she said to him plainly, “What is the slave woman doing in our house? I bore her haughty looks all during my youth in the great house...” The hot scanty tears welled slowly into her eyes, and she said, “ It is a bitter thing, and I have no mother’s house to go back.”
But O-lan was not finished with it. In the morning when she heated water and presented it to the old man, but when Cuckoo went to find hot water the cauldron was empty. And Wang Lung shouted at her, “ Cannot you add a dipperful water to the cauldron?” But she answered, “I am not slave of slaves.” “To that one you gave my two pearls.” He went away ashamed and he said to Cuckoo, “We will build another stove. You shall cook what you please.”
Cuckoo went to the town everyday she bought experience foods. And these all cost money more than he liked to give out. And this was a thorn to him day after day.
There was yet another small thorn. It was that his uncle’s wife went often into the inner court at meal time. The three women ate well in the inner court, and this Wang Lung did not like. When he said to her, Lotus answered, “Now I have no friends, and the first wife who hates me.” He was angry but he could say nothing. And so his love for Lotus was not whole and perfect as it has been before.
There was yet more to trouble Wang Lung. One day his father saw his son standing beside a slender girl he cried out, “There is a harlot in the house!” Although Wang Lung saying, “It is a second women.” But the old man shouted, he saying, “And I have one woman and we farmed the land.” It was another thing to make of his love a burden to him.
One day he heard a shtick from the inner courts and he ran in and there he found the children. Now the children were constantly curious about this lady who lived in the inner court. Lotus complained many times to Wang Lung that she wished to lock them out. But this he was not willing to do. On this day, when the fool saw the shining jade in her ears, she put out her hands to grasp the bright color. And Lotus was frightened and screamed out, so that Wang Lung came running in, and Lotus shook her finger at the poor laughing girl. Then the good anger awoke in Wang Lung, for he love his children. He loved her not so wholly as before.
There came a day when summer was ended and he looked over his fields. And he saw that the water had receded and he shouted, “ Where is the seeds for the wheat planting?— I go out to the land!”
(C) Cp.22. Wang Lung’s status elevated, he wanted to find a good wife for his eldest son.
Now Wang Lung was healed of his sickness of love by the good dark earth of his fields. Then it seemed to Wang Lung as though he had been for a long time away and there were suddenly a multitude of things he had to do. So these two women took their place in his house: Lotus for his toy and in the joy of her pure sex, and O-lan for his woman of work and the mother. And it was a pride to Wang Lung in the village.
His uncle said, “ My nephew, is founding a great house and his sons will be the sons of rich man and they need not work.” Then men of the village looked upon Wang Lung with increasing respect.
The year turned to winter and Wang Lung took his harvests to the market, and this time he took with him his elder son. Now there is a pride a man has when he sees his elder son reading aloud the letters upon a paper. When it was finished, the two walked home together, the father said within his heart that he must see to it that there was a wife chosen and betrothed for his son.
He talked of it one night to Ching. Ching sighed and he said, “If my poor daughter were here and sound you might have her, but where she is I do not know, and it may be she is died.”
Spring came in long, and the elder son changed suddenly and cease to be a child. He wearied of his books. Moreover, he took a dislike to his old teacher and would not go to school, he spent whole days idling about the streets of the town. Wang Lung was angry he fell upon the boy with a bamboo and beat him. The boy stood these beatings under the bamboo without a sound. And Wang Lung could make nothing of it. He thought of it one evening, and while he thought, O-lan came into the room and she said, “ I have seen this thing come upon the young lords in the courts of the great house, and when it came the Old Lord found slaves for them and the thing passed easily.” Wang Lung was surprised for he saw what truth in what she said. And he said to O-lan, “But I cannot buy a slave for him, I will betroth him.”
（D) Cp.23. The son of Wang Lung’s uncle took Wang Long's eldest son to drink and engage in prostitution. Wang Long was very angry. He wanted to evict his uncle's family, but when he knew that his uncle had connections with bandits, he didn't dare.
Now Lotus, seeing Wang Lung distraught in her presence, said, “If I had known that in a short year you could not see me, I would have stayed in the tea house.” And he answered, “These days I think of my eldest son and he must be wed. I am not willing that he marry any of the daughters of the village farmers. Yet I do not know in the town well enough.” Now Lotus replied, musing, “There was a man who used to come in to me at the great tea house, and he often spoke of his daughter.”
“What sort of man was this?” asked Wang Lung. “He was a good man” Lotus mused until Wang Lung said hastily “What was his business?” And she answered, “I think he was master of a grain market, but I will ask Cuckoo who knows everything.” Then she clapped her hands and Cuckoo ran in. “ Where is his market?”asked Wang Lung. “In the street of the stone bridge,” said Cuckoo. And Wang Lung said, “That is where I sell my grain, it can be done.” “That will I do!” said Cuckoo heartily and she laughed as she thought of the fee of good silver on her palm. But Wang Lung went out, saying, “No, it is my son and I will wait.”
One early morning his elder son come home in the dawn with his face hot and red with wine drinking, and he fell and lay on the ground in his vomit like a dog. Wang Lung was frightened and he called for O-lan, and together they lifted him up and laid him upon the bed. Then Wang Lung went into the room where the two boys slept together. Wang Lung said to the younger, “ Where was he gone?” And the boy said desperately, “ He has been away three nights together, he go with the son of your uncle.” Wang Lung strode forth into his uncle’s rooms, and there he found his uncle’s son. Wang Lung shouted at him, “Where are you led my son?” Then the young man answered sullenly, “ He was at the house of the whore.” On the day, therefore, Wang Lung said to Cuckoo, “Go to the grain merchant and arrange the matter.”
Wang Lung went in his anger to his uncle’s room and he shouted, “Now out of my house, you and yours.” But his uncle paid no heed to him, he stepped forward with his arm upraised. Then the uncle said, “Drive me out if you dare.” His uncle opened his coat and showed him what was against its lining, he saw there a false beard of red hair and a length of red cloth were sign and symbol of a band of rubbers. And Wang Lung started, and he turned and went away without a word.
It was true that during all these years of his prosperity never had bandits come to his house. And among the villagers he heard stories of marauding. He saw why he had been safe as he fed the three of his uncle’s house.
Then Cuckoo came back from the grain merchant and although the affair of the betrothal had gone well, the merchant Liu was not willing that anything should take place now for the maid was too young for marriage.
And the next morning, he took a hoe and he went to his fields. And he went to his land day by day for many days. And the sun shone on him and healed him.
And there came out of the south one day a small slight cloud. The locusts had come out to devour what was planted in the fields. Then Wang Lung forgot everything that troubled him. He shouted, “ Now we will fight these enemies from the sky.” They worked without sleeping . For seven days he thought of nothing but his land, and he healed of his troubles.
（E) Cp. 24. Wang Lung’s eldest son wanted to go to city to study, but Wang Long felt that being able to read was sufficient. Wang Lung was very angry when he found out that his eldest son was with Lotus.
One day Wang Lung’s eldest son came to him and said, “Father, there is no more that this old head can teach me, I would like to go to the city and enter a great school.” Wang Lung answered his son sharply, “I say you can not go. You have Learning enough.” Then the young man said, “I will, for go south I will, and I will not stay in the little town.” Wang Lung was brutal and angry and he shouted out, “Now then, get into the fields, and work a little for the rice you eat.”
Then for many days there was nothing said and the lad seemed suddenly content again, but he would not go to school any more. One night, O-lan came softly into the room. Her belly was as great as though with child only there was no birth. She said in a harsh whisper, “The eldest son goes too often into the inner courts. When you are away he goes.” “It is better to send him away, even to the south.”
When the dawn was coming, Wang Lung went out to overs his men, and he went here and there over his land, and at last he shouted loudly, “Now I am going to the town and I shall not be back early.” But when he had gone half way, he thought to himself, “Shall I go back?” And he strode back to his house and stood at the curtain that hung in the door to the inner court. And listening, he heard the murmuring of a man’s voice, and it was the voice of his own son. Now the anger arose in Wang Lung’s heart. He tore aside the curtain and there was his son. And Lotus sat on a small stool at the edge of the pool. These two talked together, and they did not hear Wang Lung.
Then Wang Lung leaped forward and he fell on his son, lashing him. And he whispered to the boy, panting, “Now get you to your room, lest I kill you.” And he said to Lotus with great sadness, “ you go a-whoring after my own sons.” And she cried and protested, “No, but I did not, and the lad was lonely and come in.”
He groaned and he went out. He passed his son’s room and he called without entering, “Tomorrow go south to what you will.”
2) I think:
Pearl S. Buck wrote about the lives of Chinese farmers in the last years of the Qing Dynasty in China. This was the era when my grandparents lived. At that time, it was a feudal and backward China. Later, through the Xinhai Revolution led by Sun Yat-sen and the wars and constructions led by the Communist Party, China made considerable progress. However, China is not yet a democratic and law-based country at present. Think back to the various political movements in those days, the criticism and bickering, the singing of loyalty songs and the dancing of loyalty dances. Think about the ideological control over the people over the years. Maybe one day a writer will be able to write a work that wins a literary award.
Adapted from the notes of Stephen Huntley, University of Nebraska
Authorities on the topic of foot-binding claim that the practice began during the T’ang dynasty (618-907 A.D.) Many stories exist about how this practice might have begun.
? A poet-king thought that dancers danced more gracefully if their feet were bound in cloth. He made his favorite dancer perform with her feet bound and decorated the bindings with pearls, flowers and precious stones. He then wrote poetry about the beauty of the dancer’s feet, calling them “little golden lotus flowers” or “little golden lilies. This practice of bound feet became very popular throughout the kingdom.
? Another story tells of a king during the T’ang dynasty whose concubine had her feet bound to make herself more desirable to him. He was so pleased with her attempt to please him that other ladies of the court decided to follow her example, hoping to win his favor.
? An empress named Tak-ki of the Shang dynasty had club feet. Because she was so ashamed of them and so jealous of the other women at court, she forced all women to bind their feet so that their feet too would become deformed.
? An emperor had trouble keeping his wife out of political matters. To keep her from interfering in matters of state, he had her feet and the feet of her followers bound so that she was forced to remain in her quarters. This story conforms with the Chinese male’s suppression of women.
? Finally, that all of these stories deal with royalty explains why foot-binding was imitated by non-royalty who would acquire prestige and status by binding the feet of their women.
To be successful, the process of foot-binding, which was very painful, had to begin when the girl was five or six years old. If the wrappings were too tight or the girl being treated was older, the skin and flesh could break open, causing sores that were difficult to heal. It was not unusual for infection to occur, and sometimes the girl died from the procedure.
Huntley reports that the idea of concubinage has its origins in the teaching of Confucius (6th century B.C.) who, as the father of the religion of ancestor worship, emphasized the importance of male descendants. If a wife proved unable to give birth to male children, it was a religious obligation for the husband to find someone who could.
? Later Confucian scholars even spoke of the desirability of marrying a wife for her virtues and then taking a concubine for her beauty. Considering that marriages were arranged and that the groom did not see his bride until the wedding day, securing a concubine later for her beauty alone became common.
? In wealthy families, it sometimes happened that the mother of the bride would choose attractive servants (called dowry maids) so that the groom would not have to go outside his own home to find a sexual mate. Because they were part of the bride’s dowry, he owned these women as he would own any slave he bought, and custom permitted that he could have any woman in his household without disgrace.
? Most households had two types of concubines. One was acquired through legal formalities and served a wealthy man who had to travel a lot. Since the wife could not accompany her husband and leave the responsibilities of running the household to someone else and since sexual abstinence was not expected during travel, the second lady traveled with her master and had legal status because she could not be deserted. She was not equal to the wife, but she did have certain rights. For example, if the first wife died, this woman took her place. The second type, like Lotus in The Good Earth, was purchased from a tea house. In either case, the duties of the concubine were simple: she existed solely for the entertainment and sexual gratification of her master. She was given a separate court where she was expected to stay, always being ready for her master. She had no power except what came from her ability to please him and to gain his favor.
Chapters 20-24
August 12, 2025
Introduction: Chapter 19 ends sadly with O-Lan in tears as her husband demands that she return the two pearls he had begrudgingly allowed her to keep so that he can give them to Lotus, who, we are told, now occupies his whole mind and heart. But he will be forced to broaden his focus as several newcomers take up residence in his household, bringing with them new problems and challenges.
1. Chapter 20 of the novel opens with the unexpected arrival of Wang Lung’s uncle. Note the language used by the author to characterize the uncle’s arrival: The uncle looks “…as though he had dropped from a cloud… like a dead man returning.” What effect do these images create as this chapter begins? Note the father’s greeting to his brother when he finally recognizes him. How do you explain it and what may be its intended effect?
2. What are some of the major changes that take place in chapter 20?
3. How does O-Lan react to the possibility of having another woman in the house?
4. How does Wang Lung keep busy as he waits for Lotus’s arrival?
5. Lotus’s arrival at Wang Lung’s house is rather dramatic. She is seated “in a closed sedan chair of bamboo borne on men’s shoulders.” What effect did this scene have on you? What thoughts and feelings did it prompt?
6. A bit of humor comes from the uncle’s wife who gets pleasure reporting to Wang Lung that Lotus is not as young as she looks and acts. According to her, what likely motivated Lotus to accept Wang Lung’s invitation to join his household?
7. In chapter 21, Wang Lung’s “additions to his household” cause some tension. The reader might expect that Lotus would be the main cause, especially for O-Lan, but she is not. Instead, it is her servant Cuckoo. What are O-Lan’s objections to Cuckoo? How does Wang Lung react to her objections? How does O-Lan handle Wang Lung’s indifference to her complaints? How does Wang Lung address this situation?
8. What causes Wang Lung’s love for Lotus to begin to cool a bit ?
9. How does Wang Lung’s father react to his discovery of Lotus in the house?
10. What explosive event significantly changes Wang Lung’s feelings toward Lotus?
11. What event sends Wang Lung back to the fields? How is the last scene in chapter 21 reminiscent of the novel’s opening?
12. How does his return to the fields affect Wang Lung’s behavior toward Lotus?
13. His love sickness having abated, at whom does Wang Lung direct his attention?
14. How does Wang Lung respond to his wife’s suggestion that he buy a slave for his son? Who volunteers to help him in his endeavor to find a bride for his son? What finally prompts him to accept their offer of help?
15. Wang Lung goes to his uncle, telling him he and his family must leave. What changes his mind about this?
16. Is Cuckoo successful at arranging the son’s marriage?
17. Were you surprised by the ending of chapter 23?
18. How does Wang Lung respond when his eldest son asks for permission to travel south to attend school, saying that life at home holds nothing for him? What happens when O-Lan tells Wang Lung that the boy is visiting Lotus’s courts each night?
Adapted from the notes of Stephen Huntley, University of Nebraska
Authorities on the topic of foot-binding claim that the practice began during the T’ang dynasty (618-907 A.D.) Many stories exist about how this practice might have begun.
? A poet-king thought that dancers danced more gracefully if their feet were bound in cloth. He made his favorite dancer perform with her feet bound and decorated the bindings with pearls, flowers and precious stones. He then wrote poetry about the beauty of the dancer’s feet, calling them “little golden lotus flowers” or “little golden lilies. This practice of bound feet became very popular throughout the kingdom.
? Another story tells of a king during the T’ang dynasty whose concubine had her feet bound to make herself more desirable to him. He was so pleased with her attempt to please him that other ladies of the court decided to follow her example, hoping to win his favor.
? An empress named Tak-ki of the Shang dynasty had club feet. Because she was so ashamed of them and so jealous of the other women at court, she forced all women to bind their feet so that their feet too would become deformed.
? An emperor had trouble keeping his wife out of political matters. To keep her from interfering in matters of state, he had her feet and the feet of her followers bound so that she was forced to remain in her quarters. This story conforms with the Chinese male’s suppression of women.
? Finally, that all of these stories deal with royalty explains why foot-binding was imitated by non-royalty who would acquire prestige and status by binding the feet of their women.
To be successful, the process of foot-binding, which was very painful, had to begin when the girl was five or six years old. If the wrappings were too tight or the girl being treated was older, the skin and flesh could break open, causing sores that were difficult to heal. It was not unusual for infection to occur, and sometimes the girl died from the procedure.
Huntley reports that the idea of concubinage has its origins in the teaching of Confucius (6th century B.C.) who, as the father of the religion of ancestor worship, emphasized the importance of male descendants. If a wife proved unable to give birth to male children, it was a religious obligation for the husband to find someone who could.
? Later Confucian scholars even spoke of the desirability of marrying a wife for her virtues and then taking a concubine for her beauty. Considering that marriages were arranged and that the groom did not see his bride until the wedding day, securing a concubine later for her beauty alone became common.
? In wealthy families, it sometimes happened that the mother of the bride would choose attractive servants (called dowry maids) so that the groom would not have to go outside his own home to find a sexual mate. Because they were part of the bride’s dowry, he owned these women as he would own any slave he bought, and custom permitted that he could have any woman in his household without disgrace.
? Most households had two types of concubines. One was acquired through legal formalities and served a wealthy man who had to travel a lot. Since the wife could not accompany her husband and leave the responsibilities of running the household to someone else and since sexual abstinence was not expected during travel, the second lady traveled with her master and had legal status because she could not be deserted. She was not equal to the wife, but she did have certain rights. For example, if the first wife died, this woman took her place. The second type, like Lotus in The Good Earth, was purchased from a tea house. In either case, the duties of the concubine were simple: she existed solely for the entertainment and sexual gratification of her master. She was given a separate court where she was expected to stay, always being ready for her master. She had no power except what came from her ability to please him and to gain his favor.