Chapter 2 - -. .. -- - - . -
AMERICAN CHR1STIF)N IN CHPhlC*
It would be apt to delineate Pearl S.Buck's rellg~uus outlook. and the reasons behind it in the flrst part of tt~~c,
Chapter; ref lectlon of her personal rel1,ion in her flrt ;or1 and her Christian mlssionarles are studled in the s~conrland thlrd parts respectively.
f3UCK.S RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING
Whe11 Pear l 5. FJtlck war. a little blue-eyed glr i . I>*ilzoq Dome of the gold of the sun ln her dark browr~ halr . shp used somstlmes to cuddle up in a sm81 1 cave by the sea and Mati h the turbulent currents and addles that broke on tt~mroucjh coast 01 Chlna. There always came some big wave that wnuld
ath her i~pall the dis~ointedand wlllful waves lnto one, 8r~d the tangled waters would become smooth. In later year. that
"King Wave" ("Easter 1935".16) as she calls it. became to her the symbol of the unifying forcer of Chrlrt. But it does not matter to her whether Christ actually llved nn earth in one body and soul or was just a matter of falth.
"It is enough for her that men have conceived Hlm in thelr dreams and visioned in Him the image of God"' ("Mrs. Ruck
Under Flre As a 'heretic"', 15). Bucks religious belle+ can be traced to her family tradition, the three rellqioos ln
1.Tk writer's name was not givm. Chlna, and to the background of Chrlstlan Mlsslons which she disliked.
Pearl's father, Absalom Sydenstrlcker hailed from ari
Orthodox Presbyterian famlly in West Virginia. Out of the seven sons of his parents, six were minlsters. "Rel~glon was their meat and their excitement, their mental food art11 their emotional pleasure" (Fighting Angel, 13). ?hey quarrelled over it as men quarrel over politics. It was
Qbsalom from among them. who declded to go to Chlna. 4s a devoted missionary.
- Pearls mothrr. Carollnr Stulting, belonged to a farnily which had loft Holland and migrated to the Unltrd States on account of rellglou6 per-*cution. Shr had a rtr orlp puritanical streak in her nature and often aought God and vowed to devote more time for prayer. Since ahe had fwared that her sensual naturw might lead her away from God, rllr
~ntroduced hrrrelf to the young Presbyterian Mlnlster,
Absalom Sydenstricker, and announced her desire to be a
Misslonary llke hlm. lf he married her. They were marr~odon
July 8, lEEO and almost immediately. set out on the trip to
China.
Pearl Comfort Sydenstrlcker. being the daughter of
Absalom and Caroline, grew up in Chlnklang. lletenlng to tile
Buddhlst and Taolst tales from her Chinese nurse and taking
regular lessons from her tutor. Plr.Kung who was a Confucian scholar. Pearl s parents never belittled Chinese rulture or its ancient rellqlons and naturallv hlle btarted apprec lat~ng much of what she saw in the reliqlcnp of Chlna.
Confuc ani ism, Buddhism, and Taolsm were the thr et? recoqnised re1 iq~ons. Whi 1 e two of them were ir?d~qenrrus.
Buddhlsm came to Chlna before the Chrlstlan era. From t~mr to time, each had its perlod of ascendancy; but for the most part, Confucianism had the domlnant role to play at the court and it was generally considered to b~ the state religion. Religious persecution was someth~ngunhmard of 11,
China. "For Conf~~clanlsmis as muctl a philoeophy as a religion and philosophy rsldom generates sufflcl~ntheat to
~~prsecutewl th undue frrvoor" (Soothlll. 1973.11 ) .
Among the people at iarqr. thm6e re] lglons rere Ihot
mutually sxc luolve. The d-ficiency of Confuc1anlsm 111 making little or no provlslon, beyond a calm mtolclrm, for the splrltual demands of human naturm, had bmmn ruppllRd by the more splr i tual prov islon of Buddhism. The lndefinitenm~sof Confuci~ras to a contlnumd existence after death had been met by the more deflnlto raolst dogma of immortality. "The three are complmmentary rather than antagonistic to each other, and together they make a fuller provision for human needs than anyone of them does separately" (Sooth~ll.12). For general purpores, the shrlnes of each were open to a1 1 and availed of by all. In other words, the Chlnese were eclectic, and used whichever
form of religlon best responded to the requirement of the occasion for which they used it.
The religious harmony of the Chlnese was disturbed to a considerable extent with the introduction of European ldeas
ln Chlna. The Jesult mlsslons which wanted to convert Chlna
to Catholicism made a scholarly study of the r lch Chlnese
civilization and passed on this scholarship to 'urnpe.
Thls revelation of China to the West had more conrequer>crs
~n Christendom than th~Jasuits' teach~ng had on kt?.?
Chinese.
Ths most dallcate. lrltrlcate and pamslo~irte
relatlonst~lps rose from the must visible human ad ~uncts <,f
lmperlal l6m- mlkrlonar ler and f orelpn sett lemsntc. Wlth t t>r
sl~nlnyof the Treaty ~f Tlentrln (1970). mlsslonaries werr
permitted to travel anywhrre in Chlna and to scqulre
property for misslon homes. schools, orphanages. hornpitalp
and churches. Neither the Protrstant nor the Roman Cathollc
misslonarles of the nineteenth century were -6 generous t,r
scholarly as the Jesult mlsslonarloo of the sixteenth
century and this was one of thm many reasons wh~rh
contr~butedto the slow, but steady rlse of antl-forelqn
feeling ln Ch~na.
Unfortunately "Chrlstlanlty was mlrinterpreted as or
ldentlfied wlth Western Culture" (Chany. 1984. 19) and the Fhnican Chri6ti.m in China -. -. - .- -- great Western misslonary movement of the latter half of the nineteenth century in China, followed the flag avd was very much dependant upon the commercial expanslon of nat~ons. It
1s not surprlslng, then, that John A. Harrlhon observed irb rhlna Slnce 1800 (1967):
M1ss10nar 1e5, ~n Chlnese ey-5. were
undlstingulshed from any of the other Western
agents who were dehtroylng China, and in the
swellinq wave of antiforeignism, it was the
mlsslonarles who were the most dpfrr>reless of the
W~strrners in Chlna, often suff~ring hnrrihlv
(59).
Still, why dld missionarler 11kr Absalom Sydenstr~cksr and hi% wlfe lcavr the safety and securlty of tl,e~r own natlon and vow to work ~n Chin-7 Pmarl Buck has sald in her autobiography, My Several Worlds (1954), that mlsslonar~es came to such countries as China, to fulfil some spiritual need of their own. She war troubled when her father
preached his doctrines and she always ~ishedhe would be silent, content only to live what he preached and so, ilftsd
up, to draw men to him without words. She writer :
Somewhere 1 had learned from Thoreat,. who
doubtless learned it from Confuclus, that 11 a man
comes to do his own good for you then must you
flee that man and save vourself (51). Buck afflrms that only a few mlsslonarles llke t?-r father were actually committed to the cause of wlr,nlllg souls. and he was very considerate not to tort the sentiments of the Chinese. St11 1 she admlts ln Ply Several
Worlds that as a chlld =.he hesitated to invite her Chlr.ese
friends home because.
I dld not want them preached at .... I dld not
blame him. but I could not cast my frlends :ntr>
that whlte flre of hls own splrit. Ond wot~ldthey
not dlstrust me if I put them in hlh power' IhOI.
Polrlt lng out the 1 lkeness bwtwrur~ Budrlt>~5rn aricl
Chrlstianlty, she comments:
Jesus may have vlblted the Himalayan Klngdom of
Nepal when he was a young man.... Two thoure!,ci
years ago all reli~ionr were a brotherhood and
rcllgiour leadrrs and dieciplur communlc dted
( 66-67 3.
Hence, missionary actlvlty war almost of no relevance and
Buck was of the vlew that only the humanitarian aspect ot
the mlsslonary actlvlty ln the shape of schools, rollsges,
hospitals and orphanages could be encouraged slnce such work
had been meaningful in Chlnd for many years.
M~vlngabout in a r~l~g10u~lyorlented moclety, Pearl
Buck, naturally possessed a keen lnterprt in m~sslonary mican Chistiar in Uilna - - . ------.~- . - . actlvlty. In the early 1930s' a sth~cly of tti~forPlijr, mlsslons was made by a group of promlne~~tchurclinlerl header1 hy Dr. W.Fr~>estHocking, Professor of Phl losoph,, ~t +-iarvar~3.
Thelr report, the Laymen's Fore~gnNlssion Inqt~lriart,usrrl much controversy; but Pearl Buck defended and praisecJ it.
Buck lnslsted that the mlsslc~~~aryshould be jtldqed not r,,' doctrinal ernphasls, but on the honest, proper and sincere manner of his life, on hls Christlike bohavlour . F "orl
Christ would not assess the elf lclency of a rniszlolrdr L by counting the total number of c ox!vert'-. he made r by ttlr tl~rif t Ire demonstrated in hand1 ~t~gmoney a1 lottrd to t tie missions. Her comments angered the Furlddmentdl l+ls uf t l~e
PresbyterIan Church. She remembrrbr
1 havr 60P11 the mlrrlonary narrow. unrt,ar ~tatlle,
unappreriatlvo. ignorant. I havr seen him so ~urp
that all truth was with hxm and him only, tt!a+ m~
heart has knelt wlth a humble one before the
shrine of Buddha rather than before the God uf
that mlsslonary, if that God could br true.. . . I
car, never have done wlth my apologies to the
Chlnese people that In the name of a gentle
'hrlst, we have sent ignorant people.... and have
made the llves of hungry-heartrd people wretched
and more sad. I have heard a misslonary say. 'Of
course, I tell these people thelr ancestors are ln
hell" (Clted in Harris, 1972, 282). Pearl Buck never forgot that the rnlsslonary group in
whlch she was reared was 1 lmlted and narrow in outlook aha
how as a child, she often fled from thls bar kgrounrl
preferrlng to associate herself wlth the Chlne5e who were
much more sympathetic and klnd, though supposedly hedthen
("hdvlce to Unborn Novelists", 513 - 14). Somet lmes 5t1e
considered the Buddh~stgoddess, Kwanyln super ror to the
harsh and severe Old Testament God.
8urk stressed the importance of a humanltar~an~but
creedl~scfaith ("Easter 1933". 169). She adored C'hrlht as
a pattern of b~havlourand as an insp~ration,but r~funudto
accept any elements oi ttm mlr aculous or supernattlral
attached to Hls llfe. Wtien the Chinese Christians had ruo
enthusiasm for Virgln Mary and felt sorry for Joseph, oh-
never bothwed to convince thmm about the Christ.la#> doc tr llrr
of Chrlst'a divine birth. She would not accept the Blble on
various issues (Harris, 1972, 32). In "Advlce to Unborn b
Novelists", she frankly admits:
It is bettor for any novelist to bm born among
Gypc1.s or thieve. DT happy workaday people than
to be born under the shadow of a gremt creed.
under the burden of original Sin or under the
doom of salvation (514).
Pearl Buck was against any attempt to break up the
cultural patterns that had stood the test of tlme tor centuries. She was interested more in helplng the sufferlray man next door than in t>lindly following any duqma. tier re1 lglon. obv~ously, nas the brotherhood of men wt~lcll stressed the urgency of justice. kindness and mutual understanding. As a result of her Chlnese upbrlng~nq.she dld not belleve that any reliqlon was romprehenslv~enough to exclude all others.
Under the leader 5t>1p of Dr. J .Gresham Mac hen, t tlr
Fundamental 1st- decided tn institute a case aga1rl61 Prar i
S.Buck rharglrlg her wltl~ heresy. The moderntste of tttu t'r~shytrrlan Chkrr< h, 11s turn, started dernonstrat~ir3q t he~r iprotpst. I t ptrcipl LdCrd inrjct~ controvprsy 1r1 nu pr.pse..
However. wltl~~utwaltlng tor tho board to fire her, u-4, i
Buck submitted her reslgnatlon as a mlrsiondry of tl,e
Presbyterian Church. The ~mpatlent,warl~ke attltudr of the
West and its mllltant religions dld not pleas. Uuck who believed in the silence of mountarns and the philosophf of religious inclusion of the Chlnese. She took pains at lenqth
to learn in detail Judalsm, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism.
Hinduism, and Lama - mysticism. Islam 1s the on1.v major
religion whlch she failed to research.
A11 through h~r1 she could step out of hrr
Chrlstlanlty and compare it lmpartlally with other rel~qiot~s of the world. Even though she did not take the shelter of
any one rellglon, she was never an athelst. she says: ChRica, Chistim in China
I, too love the qulet church before the
servlce beglns, but do not care so much fur it
when the sermon comes on. It 1s very dlff lc~ilt
sometimes to slt and llsten to what is sald. But
I llke the best the qulet of Buddhlst temples
where only the Gods stand and the pr~estsdo not
speak (Clted in Harrls, 1972,25354).
Her ardent desire for active goodness took concretp shapes as she inltlated the foundations of Welcome HOU~O.
East-Went fissoclatlon, Upportunity Centre in Korea. Ch~na
War Relief. Centre for G. I. and Retarded chr ldren and I'par 1
Buck Foundation. Those Institutlons bear wltceis to her
idma of Gcd. ,
THE ECHO OF BUCK'S PERSONCII.. RELlGION IN HER NOVELS
Knowlnqly or unknowlngly, every artist leaves hls personal stamp on his work of art and Pearl Buck is no exception. She finds God in many persons and places. lo illustrate this, the following novels are to be rxamlned.
Peony (1948) stirs our conaciourness against the pollry of re1igious separatism f 01 lowed by conservat ive, or t llc3dox
Judaism all over the world and especially ~n Chlrla. lhe
Hidden Flower (1952) assa11s the ant~m~scegenatinnlaws which were ~n force in the Un~tedStates in the past. All
Under Heaven (1973) surprises us by lnvlting our at tent lon to the comments of two parish priests. Satan Never Sleeps ( 1962) shows the conflict between Chr 1st an fa lth arid
Communist atheism. Come, My Beloved (1953) is al.nlng dL bui ldlqg up a "Re1 lglous Brotherhood" around :tie glcbr.
17andals (1970) attempts to peep through the key-hr~le uf
Indian religious n~ysticismto the sri~etsof death ano reblrth. letter From Peking 11957) has a scene uh~rrthe spirit of a t~usbandvlslts his wife; this te1 15 13% of &'ear 1
Buck's faith in the immortality of human soul and the power of love. The religious encounter in Pav~I~or,~,f Wom~n
L 1946) does not havr the usual background of or thoijo* ar,d
1115tltutional re1iglon. It %tresses the need for splr ltual
lnve and unsel f lsh behavlour .
Peony (1948) dlsc;lsses kn detall marjy Jerls:, rltua;. 11, connection with the Passover. the Sahbdth, thr prayer 111 Chr synagogue. the Psalm and the expected arrival of ttrr
Messiah. One wonders at the novelist's deop knowledge ni tlqe complicatrd customs of the Jews. Centuries ago, Ezra Rrn
Israel'o ancestors came to China and settled down thrrr. doing business. His wife, Naomi is rigid in her rellqlous
faith and is extremely proud of her Jewlsh blood. She lc,oks down upon her late mother-in-law becausr thr old lady was only a Chinese. Madame Ezra and the Jewish prlest, Rabbi
represent fanatlc Judaism, while Kung Chen stands for the
liberal humanist splrlt of Buddh~smand Confuclanlsm. Thls religious difference goes deep into the fam~lyat tlmes creatlny tenslon, when Ezra Hen Israel, because of hls half- Chlnese blood refuses to agree wlth Madame kzra. She has no doubt that the only true God is Jehovah and the Jews. the only "Chosen Race". She considers it her sarrecl diltv tr~ malntaln the raclal purlty of at least ht=r foml l y bv yettlng her son, Davld married to Rabbl s daugt~ter.: oah.
She tells the girl:
You know there 1s unchangeable dlff~rencrbetw~e11
them and us. We are the Chl ldren of the trur l~od.
and they are huattwn . They worshlp imaqes c lay. Have you ever looked lnto a I h*f,vcc trinf11e7(Peony,bEI). Once Rabbi demands of Davld to 11arn by hrari tt~rrurrem that Jehovah has agalnrt the heathen. Thou shalt surmly kill hlm, thine hand shall be the first upon him to put hlm to drath and afterwards the hand of all the prople. end thuu shalt stone h~mwith stones that he dle, because he sought to thrust thee away from thr Lord. thy God (111). Davld hates these words though they are thr words ::f Jehovah Hlmrel f and escapes from Rabbl to the L>ear and comfort of hls Confucian teacher s humble dwelllrig. Pearl Buck 1s palned by the separatism malntalned ? Thls lrlc luslvenes5 has certainly enriched 1 t\ cult rr~. Belng a typlcal Chlnese Kunq Chen remarks: When forelqrlers come lnto a natlon, the best war 1s to make them no longer forelgn. lhlc, i . to say, let us marry our young together and let tl,erc- be children. War 1s costly. love is rheap 110.'). O!,ly the Clrlnes~.anlurtq all tile people of the wor Id. [~<>,ssc,,,~. t hls pure wlsdom. By ttic erld uf the novel. F'esr I €i,n,i. .it,t,wc. us how the Jewb were tcltaily ab6orbed Into tllu r~t?~oe~,'.~ system slowly by the natur a1 procpss uf ir~terr r,141 marriages. Ceah' 6 acc ldental death a1 lows Davld f r wedom !I, marry Kung Chens daughter. Kuel-Ian. With the tlentlr 01 Davlds parents, hls famlly rcqulres a Chinese set up. Still certaln rules of Judaism irk hls consciencr when he longs to accept hls bondmald. Peony as a second wlfe or a6 a roncublne. Judaism as it was practised in Chlna those days, strictly prohibited the habit of having more than one wife2. David's conscience is a microcorm of the Jewlrh splrlt ar?d ethos and Peony stealthily escapes to a Buddhlst nunnery in order not to tempt hlm lnto accepting her. 2.T-h thp Jewi In Chlna were follo*rlng rrcnogarry, vrre of ttelr forefathers were polygam~sts. See The Holy Blble, Genesis, 29:26-Y?. &m-icrl Chlstian in (h~ru ~ . - Conf Ilc t between orthodox Chr 1stian 1 ty and Orthod<>* Ruddhlsm 16 manifested in The H~ddenFlower 119521. Oilen. an Rmerican Christian. fa115 in love wlth Josul. a Japanese Buddhist, when he has been in Japan. The g~rls father, 1)r . Sakai does not have an iota of religious tolerance and is against the pnssib~lL ty of his daught~r mar rylf~t) a Chrlstlan. Stlll. the marrlage takes place 1r3 a Buddhist temple and the couple soon reaches Rmerlca. Mrs. Kenrircly, 631 lens mother tias the same re1lgious tenar Ity rs thal cjf Dr. Sakal and 1s never qolng to approvr mf 11 srlrl ,. Htrdrlhlst marr lage. ! What IS Buddhlsrn, anyway7 That s no foal rellq~o#~. Rnd certainly a temple is not a church. It c ftrll of idols ( Tho Hlddrn Flower. 139). enother human crlsls 1s on lts way. as Jr>sul tiar already bren prrgnant and the antlmlscegenrtlon law in tnrc~ ln almost half the states in the US, at that tlme, does not legalize marrlage between members of different racrs' Rmerlcan h~storlcalrecords show that, Many states dld enforce laws banning marriages not only between Caucaslanr and Negroes, but between Caucasians and others of mlxed blr>od. Some state laws, for example, speclf~callv mentioned Mongollanc. Hlndus and Indlans (Dovl~, 1980, 150). Hence, the child that is going to be born to Allen and Josh> would be a bastard. Dr. Stelner, a Jewlsh frlend !if Johti~ agrees to adopt her son. In Dr. Stelner s memorv, her nlghtmarlsh days in the Nazi concentration camp, rema~rrever fresh; that experience has enabled her to see thr folly of the doctrlns of "Pure Blood". She considers "Pure Blood lnferlor to mlxed blood for sc~entlficreasons too. Once, when Malcolm (All Under Heaven) was travelling in the far interlor of a Northern Province ln China. he ramp upon a fiery old misslonary stridlnq along a stone pavrd street. The two whltr men, each of whom had thought h~mcelf solitary, stopped, stared and embrdc~deach other. The 8-,111 mlsslonary told Malcolm that wher~ he would get tc Hra.er;. ttu had a plan to ask God, " why he d~dn'tmake heathpn~ail barf and Christians all good. It would rlmpllfy the whole ti!~ma~ life, mind you I" (All Ur~dorHravm.95). The sensible, tolerant, old missionary insists tt>st therr is no satisfaction in converting a heathen when he 1s already a good man. Hls best Christians had once been ttns best heathens in the town. From experience. he has lsar~r~t that it 16 the right perspective of life which maker a man either good Or bad; religion 16 an irrelevant detall of the surface, and does not penetrate lnto the depths of a man s actual essence. In the same novel. Pearl Buck presents another tvr,@ 01 a priest too. to show that Pri~5t5 words need rtnt alway5 be correct or lnsplred. The Sundav srrrnon ln a church I,) ttar US, had been reason enough to infurlate Nadya, Plalcolm *. wlfe. She heard these words : Today the whole world 15 dlvlded int~two, Chi- istlan and Communist. Those who are nnt Christian are Communist. There can be no compromlro ( 119). Nadya ct~uldnot Ilstprl to thls ignorant. man rnymni el he must be t.old that mr~st ut ttle people of ~IIW~$1, Id, nevertt1eles6, were nut Lomnlunist . nor were t hoy Ctlr lr;. art: there were tile Hindus. thw Mtlsl ims, the Buddl\lrlu d11~1 Chlna, the marly who were lao~~tar~d Confucian' Ayarri. ar v there not many who cannot be1 ,eve in anyone re1lpi<,n. l, who Walt wlth reverent hearts to discover the truth ' Satan Never Slpeps (1962) 1s a study of the inhere!>t conflict between Christian faith and communist polltlcal ~dmologyat three levels. The first level 16 the muthentlc portrayal of the hlstorlcal period of Mao and Ctilang- kal- Shek, the second is the human level-- the ideological clash that is unfolded between two Irish missionarle5. Monslqnnr Fitzgibbon and Father 0' Banion on the one rldr and the atheist Colonel Ho-San on the other. The third level qops as deep as the psyche of Ho-San. Hls atheism 1s riot a mica, Chistia, in China - - . product of any lnner lntellertual struggle, nor 1s lt s matter of convlctlon born out of a sense of crisis. 11 15 a rase of 5pl1t personality. a psycholog~calprohl~m reiatpd to hls childhood and he behaves as though he has a per sz~n+l grudge agalnst Monsignor Fltzglbbon. Ho-San was an orphan and a Christian convert , wh~,qrrw up under the paternal care of Monsignor. Those dav5. t?e? had even thought of becomlng a prlest and his foster-father wis quite proud of h~sscholrrshlp. But a quror turll r,l fate made a hardened communist of that l ltt lr Chr~lstlar,. P.r<,w l~e l>atc?s God and is natural l y dead arjatr>st t c>r.$. I (11 I mlsslonarlas. For the time belng. the two Catrio: 2, ~c+,.l , who are arrestrd on a trumped up rhargs ot erplnrl~lj*.. iri. a1 the mercy of Colonel HoSan. tie enJoys hls (Irlwer ~11.1,a venpeancr because as a chl Id, hu had erperler~cctl idprtt itv cricls. Hls boyhood was miserable slnco he 11ad brec~ suppressing hatred and enmity towards his parenth fnr havlr3q abandoned hlm and toward- Monsignor for having taken up, the responsibility of h~sfather. He could not escape the hauntlng feeling of unwantedness and never appreciated the love which he got in plenty from Monsignor. When Ho-San comes to arrest the priests. Monsignor cries out: What are you doing in that accursed Commt~nlst uniform? It has been months since you came to Mass'.. .. I am ready now to recelve your conf esslon, thouqh I warn you the penarlr e wi l 1 rlut be 11yt't for all you ve done.. . . Ho-Sari, yri~~wi 11 descend lnto hell for thls (Satan Never Sle~,ts.IS 16). Not only does Ho-San keep the prlests under strlc t l~i,use arrest but also rudelv bursts lnto the llttle chapel w~tti hls soldiers, when the Holy Mass is belng cel~bratedar,d thunders to the small group of converts: You. eatlnq the bread and drlnb.ing thr win^ ijf A foreigr~God: Du v,xl know what our leader llao ha'. commanded? Gwt uut of t hlm place nr i t wl 1 l br, your prlsoo '. (201. In a sudden fury, Ho San knocks d~,wrl ttle tinst frcirn tt,t. prlest s hands. 4 selzl?~.ttlr chal l Ho-San, this is the most sacred moment. of the Mass. You have stood here with me often at this a1 tar. You understand the mysteries. Yrlu krtow what you have done. You have slnned. God WI 11 not fory~ve you because you know that yo\) havw slnned (21). Though, Ho-San is actlng tough by arrestlnq Christiarts and puttlng them to severe physlcal and mental torture at varlous stages of interrogation, he 1s never at pear- wltl: hlmsel f. Deep in hls subconscious. a struggle 15 jolrig 13) between hls early Christian f a1 th and later Maolst ~d~r>io,.~y. He goes on inf llctlng more cruel ties as if to -on~,18i,~e himself that he 1s no more a Christian. Hs ever, r a61es .r girl, Slu-lan, wf~uhas been a helper to the priests. I4e 1'. acutely aware of l~ls"Sins", though unwll ling to ac kr~owledqe t tiem. It is qu~teodd that Nonslgnors rutlmritat IVP behavlaur does not lrrltate Ho-San as deeply as I r. CJ Banlon's gent le, af fectlonate and considerate wor d-, drr. C~lwr~ Ho-San falls seriously 111 and lb at the verQe of oeath fcrr want ol enough ~c~~lcillln,it is Father 0 Banlorr -t!o dr lvws to a far off Chrlstlan Hospital in order to fetch pcntcl 1 l~r~ for hxs torturer. It would have bemn reasonable 1 f time priest 1)ad made use of that opportunl ty to cross the boCr drr of Ch~na to safety and freedom. Instead of that, he hurries back to cave Ho-San from death and to suf far hls rlwri aqorly with his fellow priest in prison. Thls unbelievably f\lgh degree of selflessness puzzler Ho-San. He murmurs : ''L.<>ve. love- you Christians are always talking about love"'(1OVb. When Ho-San happens to meet hls parwnts u#>erpectsdlv. he understands that they had not really abandoned hlm. t~ot he had been accidently lost in a crowd, as a chlld. Ih s news helps hlm to get rld of h~sstrange anger towarrls =icm 0ristl.m m Chi- p-- ~- ~ . . Monsignor and as a slde--eff ec t. he exper lences peace wl t tl~rj himsel f . He admlts at least to hlmself that he I- n Chr-15tlan at heart. tlnally, in an attempt to binuyglc. t1.r. prlests, and 131s family out of Chlna, HoSan 1s c augl,+ tsv hls former Communist col leagues. Being an ant lic~mrnuni st . Pearl Buck is to end thls novel on a triumphant not+. elf Christian1 ty; hence, the prlests cross the bogrder a1 t hiit~gh Ho-San awalts court martial in Chlna. 011 thr-ouyh the story, a romantlc subplot is wnven into ~t.most dellrately. A charming, young. Chinese y .r 1, :;I<,- Ian 1s in love with Fr. O'Banlon: she makes USI. "1 dl i l~rr womanly cunn~ny to tempt the youngman. MUI\S iqri,>r c)t t~r~ doubts whether Fat her 0'Bar~lon has m~nnod .aI t lie Sanctity of the Holy Orders. The young prlest !,am beeti caupht between two str-onq enemies: dread of the (~'l~~trrhrHrcl army and the trmptatlons rprlnglng from hls il~alr- bildv, lntensel y accelerated by the constant preaerlce 01 S~~IICI i ie Slu-Ian. Her bewltchlny beauty is at once a JOY and a terrlble ~nvltatlon. With a shudder in h~sboul. Father 0' Banlon thlnks of Satan rather than of God, a% ljr Lets liis eyes on Siu-lan. In spite of his repeated explanations. Slu Ian slmply refuses to understand the pecullar vows of a Catholic priest- - hls vows of cellbacy and dt~ty to Got1 and Church. But, gradually he succeeds in this too, t houqh the struggle has been long and hard. Buck 5 artistlc skill excels here, in the psvchulogl~.al delineation of a Christian background in Mao s ('h~na and drlvlng home even to heathens the ldea of Christlal~''E;ii>s ' and "Virtues". In thls task. whlch she has set for t~erself , she is as untlrlng and as lmposslble to discourage as her father had been lo hls mlsslon work. Come, My Beloved (1953) polnts out the diff~coltstages of a gradual movement towards re1iglous brotherliood. I he specla1 typ~of rwllglous cncoirntcr in thls novel is spread over four generations of an American faml ly wltlil r ame tt, Indla. By slow, very slow deyreps, the dlf furel,, *.s h~lwr.rl, rellglons and cultures me1 t rrway. Rut wherr it < 0rne.c- t:. thr;. quwstlon of a mlxed marl lagr II~the famlly, a 1 tha surface calm 1s suddenly shattered. Buck says: I wrote Come. My B~loved because I wantrtl lo express my own falth that one cannot achleve real rellglon, or ldeallsm or even a good llfr, unless one is wllling to yleld every preJud1ce and go to the absolute end for what one belleves (Cited in Harrls 1972, 250). When the Mac Ards first came to India, they were shocked by certain behavioural patterns of the Hlrldus and declded to teach Indlans the clvllized ways of Amerlcan Christians by founding the Mac Ard University ln Poona. David Mac Ard belongs to the second generation of h16 famlly 117 Indla and can understand Indlan culture .3ncl t he i*,ndc> philosophy better than the earl ler generation LT~Fa< Or ds. St11 1. he is not lmaqlnatlve enough to reallse wty tsar ya tras committed hlmself to Gandhlj 1. When one of the tsest students of Mac Ard Unlverslty, Jehar Slnqh ~arinounreshls lntentlon to become a (:hrlstlan, it does not surpr lse r'lavlrl because he llkes to w~lcomea youngman like J~tar :!stti Chr 1st ianlty. But he is, indeed, shocked whet, this .yr,t,r,i] 51kh decldes to go to the extreme of b~comlnya i hrls?lrl,i "Sadhu" . "But tl)ls 1% ~mpusslble". Davld repl~r 1s a Hlnd~r.not a (:hr istlan". "0 Sacltnr 1 .. a Saint", Johar 5alcl. "1 shal I be a C:hr vatiar-, Sadhu'' . "I have never hrard of such r przrs~~n" J David said (Come, My Beloved, 231-32). But David's son. Ted has no cultural or reliy~oc~s difficulty in comprehending Jehar's ~dra. Ted. the tlrird generation Americmn in India, speaks flrmly: "Jehar has immense ldea one that might revive the whole -plrit at Chrlst in India" (233). According to Ted, Jehar is going to become an "Indian Chrlst'". He wishrs he were an lndlan roo, 50 that he could become another "Indian Chrlst" 1 ike \l~?Rar. Ted advises Jehar not to beg for food as ordlnary "Sadntt-," do. People may not I lke to see a rich man's son ber4qir.g food. Jehar is far advanced ln Chrlstlan falth thar, Ted artd assures hlm that God wlll glve Hls devotee whatever 1s necessary for hls exlstence. Agaln, Ted 1s lmmat S~eak.5 for Buck : I understand that church is good for marly pur,~.lp. but also I see it is not good for me, becdu5e I wlsh to belong everywhere, to everyone, only f~rbt to Chrlst and onlv to Christ (235). Jrhar further explr~nsthat the ldea I liv~!ty a >adttu t, 11fe 15 r>ot strar>ge jrt I,?c!LA. I simply do what many have dorte. ex, npt I an) of Chr~st. S~vaand Ham I do not (ondemn, ha! I 1 will not worshlp, nor Ganesh, for I c.tnnot sue themgood or beautltul. But Christ 1 sue 1s beautiful because he rommltted no crlmw and he harmed no one, and he spoke of God (236). Questioning hls f athor's sel f-complacent , armcha) r missionary philosophy, Ted follows the footprints of Jehar to a village. Vhai. In his youthful rnthusiasm he iioes not tolerate the method of David's work, because it l>as been t>f no help to the povsrtystr~cken, ~gnorantindlans; Chrl6tian missionaries have trled this old way of preac h~ny fur hundreds of years. They have been makinq chur~hes, hospitals, and unlversltles too, but Ted thinkc, thev IIAVC falled to make true Chrlstlans Like Jehar. In the vl1 laqe, Vhal, led 1s an 'di!-hr 1st''. devoting hlmsel f total ly to the good of the vlllagers. bif~. has absorbed into hlmsel f the best in a1 l re1lqions ,ar>d fa1ths and f lnds s~mllarlt y even between Solomans S:~r>y (01,l Testament) and Shankaracharyas Savlnys. Still, he hes his private moments of doubt and unc~rtalnty. Whet> 11i ,, daughter. Llvy, fa1 Is irl IUVPwltl~ Jatin, a Hlndt~.a1 l tr~ t~ldderlfears in 1-d come to the forefront. Tl~plS611C 01 mar r iape hr 11)qb ULA~ a1 1 the dormrr\t or thl>i+<>xyof a r rl ~CJ~OLA.. fol lower. 6s .I pr DO? WP have Pru,~).,Thtr ifldden I~ir~wor.rliitl Com~,My Ltrlovod. Jatln has lmbl bed the true love of humanity is hr liad been teaching in the Mac Ard Memorial Sct~nol ir. Pcarlna. There, he had taken courage to cease to be a Hlnd~l,he was converted by the great Jshar and nourished by Daryij~ towards a high degree of indeprndence of spirlt. '7'oun y people like him and Livy are the fruits of all that had gone in the past, the happy culminatlon of varlous rellqlous ancestry and the ultlmate essence of human goodness. But Ted cannot let hls brilliant daughter be sacr~flced for the sake of maintalnlng a dream of human brotherhood. Hs had given hlmself to Indli 1" Vhal. But Llvy 1s dearer to hlm than h~mself. Thls 15 a cup whlch even the 6alots Chericr, Chr1stl.m In Chlru - - ... - .. ~ had not to drink and Ted tells hlmself, Jesus. a ~eilbdte. who never had a child could make no such dt.m,.nd ' i \ lc~, relevant to remember in thls connertlon that .icrt on1 i I+>(:, but h~sfather and grandfather also had fa1 l?d tr, ~(I!)~L.VP the real purpose of rellqion in 5p1te nf a1 l t .,i>hl~ ldeas, because they could not glve up pre]udlces absol~~teiy. Pear 1 Buck notes: Chrlstlanl ty has never achieved its real pc~ttzl~t la 1 because Christians have not been able to ~II+-,tl,~ prlnclples upnn whlrh that great rpl~ylur>re~ts (Clted in tiarrls. 1972, 75). let1 r~turI!% to Omer IL~ wlth his dd~oq!,+er i I .. , . congrat~~l*t~rrqlllmself of> t)ls wl-s,dom of kmeplr>q 11,. 11 ir betwren Jat II~~and t~er. The yuung lovers do not r u6trc !-:j; they arc mrtur-u eno\lqh to come to a compromlct. tilt I* t Lrir fate and have declded not to be so narrow-minded ds tlelr previous generation 1f wver they are lucky to have tarn1 l1r5 of their own in the distant future. Time and y~ntrrtlc>r should work together for human brotherhood and that 2% precisely what Pearl S.Buck had been saylng all her i lfw. Mandala (1970) glves us a gllmpse lnto the Hlrrdu atiri Buddhlst mystlclsm regardlnq the theory of death and rkdt lr' tt whlc h is a para-psychological phenomenon. Slnct' it>e t tc=rr,r 1s of unlv~rsal lmpllcat~on, the tltle of the ,-,~ (Nandala) 1s apt. The protagonist, Prlnce Jagat of amarpt8r and hls wlfe. Mot1 are aristocratic Hindus wllo had urutortunately lost thelr only son, Jal in the battle b~tweer, lndla and Chlna in the early 1960s. Mat1 ~nsiststhat her son is alive and literally begs her husband to go search of the youngman who 1s supposed to be dead. Jaqat 1s rational and knows Moti has been irrational iri sendlnq hlm to look for their dead son, among the 1l~lnq. Ir, order hot to dnqer hl~wlfe. he makes a pretensp i>t searchlnq for Jal and is flnally dlrected to a yo~rr~r)lama ,it Ladakh. As per the prevali lnq faith among thw Huddhist nlr,rtks there, th16 young lam* from whom Jaqrt 1.. %s.,k itnq irlforlnatlon about a is h~mselfa relncrrnat ~ori. (If It.< lnng hoirrs of deep m~d~tat lo", the lama establisheh r 81, re, t llnk wlth Jal r soul and strangely enough conv~ncr%Jagat that Jal's soul IS wrltlnq to be born anrw lntn anothsr human body. But the soul has to wait for a reasonable length of tlme; the lama tells Jagatr "It is too soon for you to find your son in h~snrw body. He must flrrt pass through the three stagrs of death" (Mandala. 230). He enplalns the melancholy and fear of a soul sooo after death and suggrsts that slnce Jai has had r vlolent death in battle, hls soul can only flee away from the piact? of death and be reborn somewhere he llkes to llvr. There must be no delay, for hls substance chanqes. He must selze hls chance, wherever he flnd5 ~t. Male or female. he wlll be horn by the chancp of h~scholce. He must accept what llfe he cart splze unon. with all its joys and burdens (753). Jagat is skeptical and puzzled and asks the lama how he call f lnd his son s new body. He 1s vaguely dlrer ted 1~ lr,r~k fur a Chlld wlth Jal s childhood preferences l lke the tke-, of toys. hobbles, food, places, colours and per\c~n%. A few years later, when Jagat happens to see, in h~s"11 t agv, A male I h1 ld of a peasant woman 5ml l lng at hlrn wlt t, z look c>f recognltlon, he ik frlgt8t~nt.d. 'Have yllr~ been my ',uru before, Hlph ur,e asked. Bellev~nq and slgh. "1 do not know". he sald, and bwlluvll>y alid unhellevlng, hu went hlr way (336). an flmerlcan tourlst, Mlss Brooke Westley. romeh tn India for no obviour reason, but mimply following her lnclinatlon. Meeting Jagat (Mandala) and livlny in t-,15 lotus-palace, which 1s being converted lnto a star ~ f,c~tel. Brooke experiences s strange feeling of belonqlngnec.s tr~the place. Thls young, sensltlve girl wonders where II~Sthe ija?.L she had seen these walls built of mlrrors. these fountalrt+ and a man llke Pr~nceJagat' Gradually her slxtti :,enc,- captures the memory of a g~rllivlng ln the very same roc,ms. Had she once been born in India7 Brooke feels a sense nf rellef when Jagat tells t8er that the wlnq of the palace where she 1 lves now. had been bu~1 t by hls qrandfath~r fir, 1115 Greek concubine. Brooke says: I have stranqe new feel lnqs. I say new, hut t h6.i are only new to me. They seem very old ferllrtqs, consclou5nes5 rather than knowledqe. and I come lnto it or move out of it (194-95). Though Brooke and Jaqat fa1 l in IL>VP,as per the inc l fnat ior~ of thelr prev10us b~rths. now slle does not lntelld to star lr~r~qIn India. +'earl Rtrck has vpnturpd in thl.; t>ovel to deal wltl~Indian reliyiou% inystli ~smtuo. In I. et ter l rom Pek~flg (lV3?), t'war 1 Uuck br ic,qc, \c> ar>r>thrrcltuatiur! of spiritual myrtic;~.m. E:lz&bct:n. wtic,bt rllar y IS the novel, l~asbemn 1lvlnq lri the US away trur trrr husband. Gerald, for over a psrlod i,f seven years. lie half-Chines* by blrth and is forced tc, stay back I I't,lna by the Communlrt government as he IS besn ttold~ng a responrible position in Peklng. The bond of love between Elizabeth and Gerald is 60 strong that ~t enables his sr>lrlt to visit her in her home at Vermont, as soon as h6= has beer, shot dead by Communists, ln Peklng. Elizabeth records in her diary r I am not what is called pcychlc. 1 am far tno earthy a woman tor that. .. I make this statemrnt., thls afflrmatlon because I swear that last nlqht, at a quarter past two. I saw Gerald here ln my room (Letter From Pek~nq, 140). A few ddys later, El~zabethrecelv~s a letter frnm 1.3". informing her of Gerald s traglr death. Elizabett, 1s surprised to dlscover that it was not lust a , ~~lc~cl,lenri, that the time of Gerald s death in Pek~rlgand her .,p~lln~r111 18 ln Vermont happened to be exactly the rame. Shr ac.kc, herself : If a strong stout lnq of wood. a length of pure matter, can be trarrsnl~rt~dinto energy befor r my rye6. lnto ash and f lamr and heat, cannot a 11b 1110 body, a br 1 i l lrr,t ml!,d, a de~pand splr lturl sou!. be t rarlbmtrtPd II>~C> ~tsown likeness hurt d dltferent 6tuf f ' (146). Pearl Ruck be1 irved in the 1mmortal ity of hun3rln 5~~11. Thls idea recurs in her autobiography A Brldgs for Pass~r,q (1962). where she touchlngly narrates the death of her second husband Rlchard 2. Walsh. Pavlllon of Women (1946) also bears wltners to BLI~~5 falth in the permanence of human splrlt. Madame Wu does ritlt belong to any organised rellglon; hence. the . cllg~onrs encounter in Pavl Ilon of Women lacks the usual or thr)dr)r background. It IS totally devoted to mystic lsm ard spiritualism and deflnes both Pearl Buck s humanlsm and vlslon as a novelist. Fln elderly lady of an arlstr,c~dt~i:and lnf luentlal Ch~nese+am1 l y, Madame Wu. 1s the rent 741 f LI)LI~P ~,fthls rtovel . Prar 1 Buck introduces ott;fr char a; te-,- 1 ,> t,,, , mostly through thls matron's eyes. On ti fo, t let h birthday, she astounds both her husband and ttlc, fdml iv L;y arinounclng that she does not wish to bear more rP\lldren ar,d her duty to the famlly 1s already accomplished a% she has four healthy sons. She a1 lows ful 1 freedom to Mr. Wu t,>r keeplrlg concubines if he so deslres. Though Madan,e WIJ has been a perfect w~fe, perf ormlng a1 1 her {{t~I :<,at I,~)OS fa1thftll ly, she knows that she has never loved t,r?* t~~~.;l~a~>li wholeheart~dly. Now, re1leved of ttiu physical con: er n.. wt>ir t, l,a,i i,urr> d~stastefulto her, Madame Wu determlnus tn devt>te: ttir r esl of her life to cul tlvate her m~nd;she de51ru6 tu enlrlr)~i~at E+ herself from ttlu dally respon~lbilltleaof a womar,. st, t t1.t she can develop her lndlviduallty, ~ntellec tual inter oat and splrltual instincts to the fullest. Madame Wus third sort, Ferigmo s Ertgllstl tutor, Brother Qndre' , 1s a kind-hear ted man, havlng a generous outlook on the nature of rwliglor:s and sclence. He 1s an itallan priest. but defrocked tly tt)~ Catholic Church. Pearl Buck herself 1s supposed to be heretic and 1s therefore, happy to have a heret lc rn the novel. Through thls noble character, she is lr,v:tlng hpr readers to see for themselves the foolishness or the meaninglessness of the word, "heresy": no God will ever say CLRI-lcan Christ la ln (hira -- - that love of one s fellow belnys and the eager nt.~-s Lo w113n away thelr tears. 1s "heresy". Rrather Andre s personal lty gradually rnaL~5 a je~;, lmprlnt upon the mlnds of both Fengmo and Madame. Jti. lt,~ dally tultlon 1s conducted in the blg famlly i~brdr,.+r?v otten Madame Wu llstens to his lnsplrlng wor,ls. >il'~, sc holarshlp, wlsdum and qenerosl ty make hlm exar t 1 y t t\v opposlte of Mr Wu and suddenly Madame Wu understands why st3u I?as falled to love her husband a1 l those years. Hrtltlt'.. Afirlre opens UC, l~er henslbl llty to new realms of bplr ltiial knnwledqe. He never forces har to accept hls Goil. hut rlor-. 15 so impressed bv h~aidear, ttlat she begins :o r c;i; ttuw sul f lsh, cold and inconr~doratashe had been tr, !r:auy (,rol:!r; she had treated hmr husbrr~dlrnproperly and reqdrdnd 1\16 concublns solely as a plere of property to be ho~bptit or soi!l at will and had thought herself superior to other wctmerl. Slowly andre' urges tier to forget firrceif, tn subordinate her pride and love of self. She asks Ar.drr !jc,w ar~yunecan "love" one's neighbour as oneself. I ller. "love" is a very strong word. Her spiritual guide 1 larlt1c.s the polnt by saying that for practical purposes. stle call accept a milder word. "Know", in place of "love". Or lksl it he "Know thy nelghbour as thyrel f" ( Pawl llon of Womeii, ;'>C+, . Andre' 1s here taking l iberty to interpret the Gosp~llrl t 1.e terminology of the lalty; he urger Madame Wu to (1orn~,rb?he1td her nelqhbours hardships and ur~dersta~~dhlm we1 I, so tt,al she deals wltti trls faults and 1 lmltat ~onsas CJE~I~;,;I:, -1 t:, ller OWII. Wtlerl she wonders whether met, a1 i over 1176- wc.r i,l have a word for God, Andre replies yraveiy that el 1 iner !I<>. "He rolls out sonorous syllables that struck upor, tler car^.. 11k.e drums.. . ' God-God-God' In twenty tor\ques, anrl a1 1 t 11'~ iongues of men" (229). After Brother Andre's accidental death. Marlamu Wt, reallses that she had actually fa1 len in love wittt l.,~n Thouql~now. t>r is on1 y a splrlt . hls ideas dlre~l l~wr, btlr a1 lows love dnd ronslderat lon for otller s dec rde her art itlrls She manager a large houhrhold of slxty members and overswar the vast agr~culturalinterrrts uf tt>e WI~famlly. S11,ce she ha6 become wlsr and rsady to offer self less PCthe problems which face her, are earlly solvsd. She wlll~!igli accepts the responslblllty of looklnq after all tt.e 0rr)hail chlldren (twenty girls). who had been taken care ot lw Rndre' ear 1ier. Not only her sons, dauqhters-ln law and servants, but also the famllles of the nelqhbourlng vllldgrs beneflt from her klndners. Andre s rellqlous arrtour !,as touched Fenqmo, Tsemo's wldow Rulan and even Ch IunIl rlq. Soclal welfare actlvitles lnltlated by thls team sl:?wi f transform the face of that part of Chlna whlch cones i~ildur Pav~1 lon of Women af f I rms the ~mmortallty of tlurnan sc9u i arnd the ef f lrlenry of a i:reedie%h falth for deni<.,nbtrat lt1ii prac t lcal yoollrless. Madame W(J, inrlre than once. exper ir,-,r uc, a mystlc communion wlth Brother Andre s soul a thli lntens~f~esher splrltuallty. lhls 1s slmilar tc, tlte tvpc. of mystlclsm Pearl Buck refers to in Mandala (tl?e lama uitt Jals spirit.) and Letter Frnm Pekl,rg (E11 zabett, WI tl~ Gerald's spirit). Gnother feature whlch we not-, 1s that ~f Hrotter Andre qlves a sense af dlrectlon tn Madante Wu r, futtlrt tsf teaching her tl,e mear>lr,y f tror lr,vr~, Jasrnlt,~, .a ~.in~>lw "flower -c)lrl" provlrles the same to Mr. Wu. "I'v LW-I rsr prrlst 1 tute. tl~rmiracle was the sanle" (512). Pec,l,lr -re Isor 4 different 1 t>ence, ttteir ifnaginat on, 1r1teL IWLt 41id capac I t i to love are also in varylny drgreer. Soklls. I >kcz bpr ~r>qb have their natural sources and to force Ltlem I 1s agrlnst nature; there is at least a spark of dlvinlly in all human belnys lrrespectlve of thelr religion, rank or wealth. A person, who makes another truly happy over a per loci c:f tlme, is certainly to be pralsed, for he 1s sharlng tt>e noble attempt of bulldlng heaven on earth. The above ment~oned novels do convey to us Pearl S.Buck s ldea of God and human soul's immortal Ity arsd t>t,w she 1s dead ayalnct the rellylous separatlom followed by shy conservat~verellplon. She lnslsts that one who goes [iut r 1 h~sway to help even hls enemles. 1% the true f~~llowrr.1' Cllr 1st and only he is wur thy of belng cal led a I I r is': -it1 Her ldeal characters sfem to have an lnexhaustltit %r,i>rrr of personal goodness stored in thelr hearts and in t trc comlng sectlon of thls chapter, we shall scrutln~irsome i)f her saln t 1y men. THE CHRISTIfiN CHARfiCTERS IN BUCK'S NOVELS Chrlstlanlty appeared dlvisive to Buck ar C atl>oiLC- cdnnot be Protestants and Protestants and Cathol LC ., r-~t,isu ~CJ JUIII. Even among the Protestants there drt. matt, cllvisinrls. Iherefore. stte thought it was bpttmr ti, thjr~C 111 people a6 indlvlduals r-at11-r tl7a1, by their r el lijlcln. 1-r . Francis Paul (Mandala). Monslgnor F~tzglbbonarid Father C Banion ( Satan Never Sleeps). Brother Gndrr' ( faIor of Women). Reverend Paul Richards ( The T~me1s Noon) ar%dArtdrew (Flphtlng fingel) combins love rlt~h a f irry ontl~usia~n~tt, wage the war for God. Tho most ideallsed of tllere are interestingly Catholics. The Cathollc prlrsts vow of Collbacy arld mode of ascetlc life puzzled an average Chlnese. In Chlna. to remaln unmarried was the preatest mlrfortune for a man or a wumar,. The Cathol lc mlsslonarles. ln the absence of famt l le.3 of thelr own, devoted all thelr tlme to the well-belrtg n' tl~e converts. Thls total dedlcatlon inspir~dmany Chinese to be converted to Cathollclsm. Even though. ~n Pearl Rut k s ~mprlcm~hlstl;n in mu- -- -- -. . . Ct~ina. the total number of Protestant mlsslonarlrr was morP than that of Catholic, there were less protestant I rirlvE.r 15 tt~anCatholics. Buck s Cathol~c mlss~unarle%we,,, dble t, understand the cultural background of Qslans better tt~a!~ttte rnlsslonarles of any other Chrlstlan denomlnatlnl~ l lke Presbyterian. Baptlst, Methodist or Pentacost. 1 he orlentdl5 thought they could seek rlghteo~rsrluss, c n l , through rlgld self-mortlf~cat~on. Fr. Fanc~s Paul (Mandala) comes from Scotlar,ci anrl hlr chosen f leld of act ~vlty is among the Rhr 1s wl~ol i r,rt t ljr hll1%. of Amarpur . India. It~eseblack. tidlry, utlr uiy Ill I lrr%er, are not murh dl Il~rent ftc~indolmals. Uut Fr. I rarxr~1% t.ee'i the beauty of thelr souls and t rles tn WII, Pr ~nreJaqat s sympathy and support lor sporlsoring some cu~~rtrt~(.t ive schrmes for thelr wellare. He persuade8 MISS Brooke W~stlrv to r-eturn to America at her earliest, 60 that she wlll nnt stand between Prlncr Jagat and his good xntentlc,ns. Shp llnds it dlfflcult to reslst the fiery prlemt 6 splrlt~lal ardour and understands that her llfe should nut br, lr> anyway, entangled wlth Jagat's. He must be free trl lea3 hls people and to co- operate wlth Fr. Franc15 Paul iri fulfilling the welfare schemes for Bhlls. Pearl Buck increases the romantlc interest of Narlddla by creatlng situations for Motl, Jagat s wlfe who fall5 ln love wlth Fr. Francls. One moon-llt nlght, amldst a dlrmfrer ['dr ty in the palace, she whispers her love to the i>r ca(>gj tie answers: You are the wlfe of a great man. I am a priec,t uf God. This is our destlny. If we are to nmept agaln ... it must be only because we do God s work together. What does it matter 1f your 6o Krlshna and mlne is Chrlst". . .Let us work togethEzr for the good of your people, who are mlne also (302). tie bows and hastens away. 131% robes f lylng behind ti] n F'r . Fr snr-IS Pall iPfandrIr) arnd Fr. 0 tJan118n i :iut.rf, Never SJeeps) are equal 1 y virtuous. disclpl rned. ';er VLu minded, and humble. If they dlffer in anything, 1t 16 ot~ir 11, thelr blodsta and physlcsl appmarance. Thuotjl. iearl dn Fr. Francls is a minor character and we qvt o.ll\ certain passing gl lmprrs of hlm. But Clonsignor Fllzql tltlrn 3. Thesp temptatlms are discussed a few paw earlier in this chapter. Ch.2. 36 45 FhPrican Christim ir, (Xi- ~~ ~ ~~., .. ~ and Fr 0' Banlon have malor roles irl Satan NeL,t.r Slpeps. Monsignor appears to be proud, assert ~ve, 1rnn.3 t Irn' a:ri easl lv lrr~table. The reason for thls ofhavlovr wdy !ic h;5~. birth and upbrlnglng in an Ir~shnoble farn~ly d:>d ttlp present advanced age. In age and srrvlce, 0 I 1% junlor to him and ever r~eady to obey him. Thes~two li l,I, Cathollc Prlests llve in close intimacy. br d.,18nq the hardships which come thelr way, in Ma06 China. 1 hev a- e engaged in mlsslonary work in one of the villages. when t1.e Red 6rmy arrests them: even under house arrest , t hrv t r y t he1r 1 eve) beet to carry out thelr dut~~kof ~!r.ly priesthood. Ho-San oub~ects them to third docjrc.. tiI, tore tor lriterro~ationas they are runpected to bc forort~ns(,tmh. The Chinerr "ropr- torture" 1s the last reror t. t at be. 0 Banlon begs Ho-San to bc klnd to Monsignor wl>mn the c~lcl"I-r~ 1s nearly dead wlth paln. In splte of the Red Army's myrlbd cruelties. t1.e prirrtri rrmaln hopeful and sane only because of tt.elr \T m trust in God's unseen and unimaginable mett,orls 11f protection. Any ordlnary mortal would have probat>ly brcsketi down under the klnd of tension they went through. Wor>s~ynor Fltz Gibbon is a true Cathollc priest. He rell6t:es ynod food, servants to shout at and a hollday in Ireland. Hr lacks imaglnatlon and sympathy and often misunderstands thr good intentions of 0' Banion. But, he is rich in the Christian virtues like hope. faith and charity. It 16 nci fault of his, lf Pearl Buck has placed a salnt near hlm. whi, ecllpses him in goodness. Brother Andre' (Pav~l~onof Women) f lnds ec-ta-,\ 1,s carlng for a few unwanted Chinese children. Urrl ike the prlests already discussed, he does not pay attevt1c.n to the rigid strictures of the Catholic Church. He is leadlrt] A humble life, working wlth hls own hands to earn food for the orphans whom he has plcked up from here and there. tie cloea not mlnd his solled dress or rough workman's hands, 11, SC>~t+. of hls scholarship and ski1 1 in astr-onomy. Wher, tbls wn<,dev cross fa116 down from the wall and breaks. he does ric~t replace its when a chlld plays with hls rosary .~r,rJ pcll 1% r,tnt its strlnq, he never puts it together again -r8d it% ltvads r~llaway and are lost. He says he does nt-it i>t?ed I! anymore. It is Brother Andr6 s sp~rituallsrn whi~t, ttir L~LJ~!~ Fengmo and Madame Wu triggers off a series of g~odact~ons in the neiqhbourlng v1IIa~esof the Wu famlly. Andre' is killed accidently by robbers, while he has been attempting to assist a shop ownrr. Llvlnq a life of kindness, selflessness and good deeds, he exists as an local model of what Buck hoper everyman to emulate. Paul ADoylr Says: 4. A skt stcfy of Pear1 ah. "FatheC hdrea" bears etrrking resemblnce to Brother -re in Pavlllcn of &mm. Fathrr Chdrea 1s also nearly a pwfect hnulbelng. It is likely that Pearl BKk has enlargod Wroa 11933) to baap Brother Fhdre in Pav~l~mof kbrPn ( 1946). CmAican Chrxstlal m CIUM - - - .. . . But the old artistlc problem of trylng to g~ve flesh and bones to such an ideal creatlon recurc ~n her portrayal of Andre . It 1s always nqur h easler for a wrlter to give an evll character ilfe than a good character: for a classlc example, Satan outshines Adam ln Mllton s Paradl SF 1 ost [Doyle, 1980, 121). Rev. Paul Rlchards 1 The Time 1s Noon) 1s r dpepl v religious Presbyterian Prlest. But in his rel~gl~ubzeal. he often forgets the livlng people around him, t>e is axtremely cold and aloof. Although he is rhspe~tetl.be ir not mt~ch Loved by hls faml ly berause of hlr rrrnols. ?otnli Grid-cen t rrd dwmeanoo r . Mrr Mary Rlchardr -upports ti1 r husband in front of othurb, but at hrart, rt~u ~rfir~ol appreciate his eccentrlcitles. She refuses even ta see h~m ln her death-bed and no love is lost between them. More than once Rev. Paul Richards, reminds us of Abralom Sydenstrlcker, Pearl Buck 6 father. There 15 (70 doubt that The Tlme is Noon is highly autoblograpl,lcal anrl the other characters and sltuatlons in the novel also mdtctr wlth the people ln Pearl Buck s personal llfe. It wa- published in 1967. though wrltten in the late 19305. It was withdrawn by its author after being set ln type because lr was believed to be too personal. That 1s why Rev. Paul Richards looks very much 1 ike Andrew ~n Fighting Angel and Flphtlnq Angel is offlclally rerognised as Obsn1c~m Svdenstrlcker 5 bloyraphy. Rev. Paul Rlchards is more determined to domlnat~and 1s certalnly more dogmatic than Andrew. The latter is orbe of the few real scl?olars among the Protestant mlsslor,ar1er. iri Chlna. The last perlod of Andrew s lrfe is spent irr a usef~tl way, help~ny hl6 neiqhbours in strlkiny contrast to l'.rill 5 blgoted, lnsane attitude. Paul and Andrew do clot y~vrany importance or respect to thelr wlver permonall tv, 1tpt1~1I11ir~q male authority rn the true old fashioned way uf St. "aul (Holy Hible, I Cor, 111 1 LO). In addltlon to the ir~dlvidual portrait-, Pearl Ei111k graphically depicts missionary lif. in China, partlculnrlv ln r closely knit m~sslonary community. Flghtlr~g Ar~ys-1 offrrs us details to prove that many of thwrr m~ss1onarie6, obliqrd to live and work togethrr in proximity, dld not like onr another and thrr deepened thr problrms of thelr erirtrnce. Several cases are cited, such ar that of a gentle, married missionary who eventually went insane because of his guilt in taking a Chinecr concubin.. Anothor missionary was periodically sub~ectto fits. durlng which Ire belleved his wife was unfaithful and he would attempt to k111 her. "Then there were the lonely mlsslonary spinsters. some of whom became stern and unfeeling tyrants; others, gentle and salntly" (Doyle, 1980. 75). Flghtlng Angel reverberates wlth slmllar lncldents from the Presbyterian 6111=.~l<>m+ a1 cj the reader is struck by the vlvldness and ~r~?~llec yudl honesty of the descrlptlons. The women volunteers fr on, tt,e US and Europe have gone out to China and have dor,e nohle, herolcal ly self -sacrlf lclng work, subm~ttlng themc,elvec t 1, almost unthinkable hardships and trlals, dapr~vl,~q themselves of every comfort. Buck b Dragon Seed (1942) describes one suc 11 "Wl11 tr woman" who sheltered and fed hundreds of Chlnese wtrmen dur lng the Slno- Japanese war. TI116 novel is .1 pier r uf Aslan history too. It was a l lma wIre13 Chlrrese wumsn war s qang-.raped and k1ll.d by Japanese 6oldlers; WVPII yrlung boys were violated. Alonr, thr "white woman" stood llke a plllsr of courage lnslde thr high walls of the convent, protect lrly as many women as she could from the madness of the ensmles. Unfortunatrly, thls "whlt~woman" too, had her share of personal problems like the angulrh of loneliness, and ingratitude of the Chlnese, and she flnally rommltted sulclde", leaving behind a not-, "I have failed' (Dragon Seed, 308 ) . Llttle slster Hrla (Pavlllon of Women) 1s a izersol> L,f llttle importance to the progress of the plot; Pear 1 But k 5.Pearl Ebck devrlbes a slmllar sltwtlm in one of her shat stal-. "The -1" (1941). In that stay, MISS Barry, a super efflclent matrm kxlls herself, drlwm alnost nud by her ~nabxlltyor fallure to lovp ad mderstand the pmr. Igarmt Chinese. Cmerrcsl Chistiat ~n OUM ~~p .. ~.~ . rn~qht have meant her tu supply us comlr re l lef t,. contrast irlq Iler with the awe- insplr lriq f ~qure 01 fir Ar,dre . tlsla does fairly we1 1 for tt~ever v I~JO,ran1 an:{ poor Ctllrtese. but when she goes lnto a hrlmr I I L.i t thtt c t madame Wu, she is. indeed. pathetic. Slnce 1,er :I,w,,! - 1 faculties are not as sharp as MISS Barry s (''Ilve F114~, i. Iis~afa115 to understand what a sorry f~gure she. r~trt~>(> front of the Chinese. F'edr l Uurk s ~nturpretatlonof thr llfe ot ~hr1r.t lo,, m16slor~arlesin the tast , 1% w t I cot)s1derln~),hir~c v c.119 I?as had f lrst hatjd k~rowletiqwof the mater la1 . 113~IVI~~~~~~~S~ 01 rqarrat Ion 1s general I v rotw lrlq a- Hnn,:k has I>- c:f,~>k!!~t:? ;>: ' , arl~l t e,,derners !or t hebr +rlf, l\obrr! ex11us. St o illustrates real 1st11ally tiow tl~t: ar~clentand qrerl c~cilttrre uf Ch~na of ten ovrrwhwlms t l)e n\~%clo~rarles,huwedur , Ir,riy they mlgllt have I lved thrr t.. Of course, there AVP except1on6, but all too few. In th~sChapter, one sees that Pearl S.Buck s relig~on IS not, strictly speaking. Christlanityi it is much more than that. Her f arnous novels vob~chfor her h~rmanltarldn ~IPW whlch yearns to brlng about happiness to al I the suffering men and women irrespective of thelr superflr lal dlf ferences. Though Buck does not entrust her self tr, all, particular rel~glous dogma. lt is proper to obsurve thdt through out her career, she has endeavoured to r reale a ronsc lousness among her readers to =,trl.de towards the n.rhl+> deal . in.rn s essent la1 goodr7ess of hear t .