Pearl Sydenstricker Buck, 1892 - 1973 :: History

bead Sydenstricker Buck, 1892 - 1973 drop curtain Comfort Sydenstricker was born on June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Her parents, Absalom and Caroline Sydenstricker, were Southern Presbyterian missionaries, and were stationed in China. Pearl was the fourth of seven children (and 1 of only 3 who would live until adulthood). Buck was born in the U.S. so she could be a natural U.S. citizen. The Sydenstrickers lived in Chinkiang (Zhenjiang), in Kiangsu (Jiangsu) province. Pearls spawn spent much time away from home, traveling in the Chinese countryside in search of Christian converts. Pearls gravel ministered to Chinese women in a dispensary she created. From childhood, Pearl spoke both English and Chinese. She was taught mainly by her pay off and a Chinese tutor, Mr. Kung. Though in 1900 the family returned to the US to continue their lives. In 1910, Pearl enrolled in Randolph-Macon Womans College, in Lynchburg, Virginia, and graduated in 1914. Although she wanted to st and in US, she returned to China after graduation when she heard that her mother was super sick. In 1915, she met John Lossing Buck and they were married in 1917. (The marriage was in truth unhappy, alone it lasted for 18 years.) They immediately moved to Nanhsuchou (Nanxuzhou) in Anhwei (Anhui) province. This is where Pearl collected poverty stricken material that she would later use in The ingenuous Earth and other stories about China. The Bucks first child, Carol, was born in 1921, but was born with PKU. (A genetic disorder in which the body lacks the enzyme necessary to metabolize phenylalanine to tyrosine. Left untreated, the disorder can cause brain damage and reform-minded mental retardation as a result of the accumulation of phenylalanine and its partitioning products.) The child became extremely retarded. Then, because of a uterine tumor found during the delivery, Pearl had a hysterectomy. In 1925, she and her husband adopted a baby girl, Janice. From 1920 to 1933, Pe arl and Lossing made lived in Nanking (Nanjing), on the campus of the Nanking University, where both had teaching jobs. In 1921, Pearls mother died and shortly after her father moved in with the Bucks. The tragedies which Pearl suffered through out her life reached a climax in March, 1927. In the frightening even called the Nanking Incident. In a confusing battle involving parts of Chiang Kai-sheks superpatriotic troops, Communist forces, and assorted warlords, several Westerners were murdered. The Bucks escaped and had an extremely long twenty-four hours hiding, but were finally rescued by American gunboats.