Pearl S Buck's literary works guide China-US people-to-people exchanges

The legacy of American writer Pearl S Buck continues to serve as a bridge for people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States, scholars and officials said at a symposium in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

The event, held on Wednesday, was guided by the Foreign Affairs Office of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government and jointly hosted by the Jiangsu Association for Friendship and International Exchanges, and the School of Foreign Studies at Nanjing University. Scholars from China, the United States, and the Republic of Korea took part.

Buck, who spent nearly four decades in China and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938, taught at institutions that were predecessors of Nanjing University and wrote works including The Good Earth. Her portrayals of ordinary Chinese people helped generations of Western readers better understand Chinese society and culture.

That role as a cultural bridge remained the central theme of the symposium.

Qu Futian, president of the Jiangsu association, said people-to-people friendship formed a deep foundation for relations between countries. He called for building "bridges of understanding, youth and cooperation", including sustained youth exchanges and closer links between cultural engagement and economic cooperation.

Lu Hualiang, director of the provincial foreign affairs office, described Buck's legacy through three themes — remembrance, respect and connection — and called for broader cooperation, including through US companies operating in Jiangsu.

The cross-cultural impact of Buck's writing was reflected in personal experiences. American scholar John Delury recalled that his grandmother first learned about China through Buck's works, underscoring how literature can shape perceptions across generations.

Participants also shared efforts to carry forward Buck's legacy through research, education and philanthropy. The Pearl S Buck Research Association in Zhenjiang has held nine international seminars and trained 989 students, while Nanjing Normal University has introduced a graduate course on Buck studies.

They called for deeper research on Pearl S Buck and more efforts to engage younger generations. Nanjing University has launched its first Chinese-English creative writing competition on Pearl S Buck and plans to hold an international academic symposium next year to mark the 135th anniversary of her birth.