Today’s Episode
She was American, but spoke Chinese like a native. She grew up in rural China, won the Nobel Prize, and told the world real stories about Chinese people. Who was Pearl S. Buck — and why did she love China so deeply? Let’s find out in today’s episode.
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大家好！欢迎回来MaoMi Chinese！
你听过一个美国人的中文名字，叫赛珍珠吗？她是一个很特别的人。她是美国人，可是她能说中文，也写了很多中国的故事。今天我们就来讲一讲她的故事。
赛珍珠的英文名字是 Pearl S. Buck。她1892年出生在美国，可是她从小就住在中国。为什么呢？因为她的爸爸妈妈是基督教的传教士。为了让更多人知道基督教，他们搬到了中国，所以赛珍珠小时候也跟着过来了。
她小时候住在中国的农村，一个叫镇江的地方。她说，她的童年是在中国度过的。童年，也就是我们的小时候。她的好朋友是中国小朋友，她吃的是中国菜，说的是中文，过的是中国人的生活。她说，中文也是她的“母语”。母语，也就是我们的第一个语言。
她看到中国人的生活。她记得，有一年，中国发生了大饥荒，很多人没有饭吃。还有一次，她看到一个女人因为没有儿子，被家人打。她很难过，也开始想：为什么会这样？她长大后，把这些事情写进了她的小说。
赛珍珠最有名的一本书叫《大地》。这本书讲的是一个中国农民的故事。他很努力工作，爱土地，也有很多困难和选择。这本书后来得了很大的奖，叫“普利策奖”。几年后，她又得了“诺贝尔文学奖”。她是第一个得这个奖的美国女人。
虽然她是美国人，但她一直在用自己的方式告诉世界，中国人是什么样的，农村是什么样的，女人的生活是什么样的。她写的不是“中国很奇怪”，也不是“中国很差”，她写的是“我爱这个地方，这里的人和我一样，是有感情、有梦想的人”。
后来，赛珍珠回到美国生活，但她没有忘记中国。她还帮助很多中国的孩子。她说，中国永远在她的心里。
她1973年去世，但她的书今天还可以在很多书店找到。这个世界上有很多人，都是因为她的小说，第一次“认识”中国。
所以你看，赛珍珠是一个美国人，但是也可以讲中国的故事。文化没有“你”和“我”，只有“我们”。
好啦，我们先来看看今天说的几个表达：
童年，意思是我们的小时候。比如，赛珍珠的童年是在中国度过的。
母语，也就是我们会说的第一个语言。我们可以有一个母语，也可以有很多个母语。
大饥荒，意思是很多人没有吃的，很多人饿死。
你看过赛珍珠的书吗？欢迎你给我们留言，说说你的想法！
Hello everyone! Welcome back to MaoMi Chinese!
Have you ever heard of an American woman with a Chinese name — Sai Zhenzhu? She was a very special person. She was American, but she could speak Chinese and wrote many stories about China. Today, we’re going to talk about her story.
Sai Zhenzhu’s English name was Pearl S. Buck. She was born in America in 1892, but she lived in China from a young age. Why? Because her parents were Christian missionaries. They moved to China to share Christianity with more people, so Pearl came with them.
As a child, she lived in the Chinese countryside, in a place called Zhenjiang. She said she spent her whole childhood in China. Childhood means the time when we are little. Her best friends were Chinese children, she ate Chinese food, spoke Chinese, and lived a Chinese life. She even said Chinese was one of her “mother tongues”. Mother tongue means the first language you learn to speak.
She saw how Chinese people lived. She remembered that one year, there was a great famine in China — many people had no food. Another time, she saw a woman being beaten by her family because she didn’t have a son. Pearl felt very upset, and started thinking: why do these things happen? When she grew up, she put these stories into her novels.
Her most famous book is called The Good Earth. It tells the story of a Chinese farmer. He works very hard, loves his land, and faces many difficulties and decisions. This book became very famous and won a big prize called the Pulitzer Prize. A few years later, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature. She was the first American woman to ever receive that prize.
Although she was American, she always tried to show the world what Chinese people were like, what life in the countryside was like, and how women lived. She didn’t write things like “China is strange” or “China is poor”. She wrote, “I love this place. The people here are just like me — they have feelings and dreams.”
Later, Pearl moved back to America, but she never forgot China. She helped many Chinese children — some were orphans, some had no access to school. She said that China would always be in her heart.
She passed away in 1973, but you can still find her books in many bookshops today. For many people around the world, her novels were the first time they ever “got to know” China.
So you see, even though Pearl S. Buck was American, she could still tell China’s story. When it comes to culture, there’s no “you” and “me” — only “us”.
Right, now let’s look at a few expressions we heard today:
童年 (tóngnián) – childhood. For example, Pearl’s childhood was spent in China.
母语 (mǔyǔ) – mother tongue. This is the first language we learn. Some people have one, others may have many.
大饥荒 (dà jīhuāng) – a great famine, meaning a time when many people had no food and died from hunger.
Have you ever read any of Pearl S. Buck’s books? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think!
ju****@**il.ru
Thank you for another excellent episode…I’m going to try and find a copy of this book now. :)
Your podcasts are amazing. I started listening to them two years ago. I think the level of Chinese is just perfect. They’re easier for me to understand now, as my Chinese has improved (a little!) since then. 🙏
Thank you so much – please don’t stop making these podcasts; they are by far the best thing for intermediate Mandarin learners that exist 😊🙏
Thank you so much!❤️🙏🏻 really glad that you found it useful!
I just read “Impératrice de Chine”, the French translation of Buck’s Imperial Woman. I learned much about the cultural differences between Han and Mandchu people and about 19 century China history.