The Good Earth The Good Earth The Good Earth is a novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that dramatizes family life in a Chinese village in the early 20th century. It is the first book in a trilogy that includes "Sons" (1932) and "A House Divided" (1935). It was the best-selling novel in the United States in both 1931 and 1932, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1932, and was influential in Buck's winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. Buck, who grew up in China as the daughter of missionaries, wrote the book while living in China and
Sai Jinhua Sai Jinhua Sai Jinhua (; "Prettier Than Golden Flower"; circa 1872-1936) was a Chinese courtesan who became the acquaintance of Alfred von Waldersee. Her real family name was Cao. Sometimes she said her family name was Zhao. During her career as a courtesan she used the names Fu Caiyun (), Sai Jinhua, and Cao Menglan (). Her art name ("hao") was Weizhao Lingfei (). Some people referred to her as Sai Erye (, "Second Master Sai"). Wenxian Zhang, author of an encyclopedia article on Sai Jinhua, wrote that she "was regarded by some as a cross-cultural courtesan." Wan Xianchu, an