Pearls of perspective

Wang often told Buck tales about the famine during her own childhood, her family, and bandits; martial arts stories about standing up to the powerful; fighting injustice; and Chinese classics set in Zhenjiang, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Legend of the White Snake and The Water Margin (or Outlaws of the Marsh).

Her parents hired a traditional scholar, 50-year-old Mr Kung, to teach Buck classical Chinese literature and thought. Mr Kung, originally from Beijing, moved to Zhenjiang after his house was burned down by German soldiers.

Every afternoon at 2 pm, Mr Kung arrived at Buck's home for two-hour lessons. He taught her about Confucius, Bodhisattva, Chinese history, classical literature, life maxims, and local customs and traditions. When answering her questions, he went beyond mere book knowledge, emphasizing the connection between the "source" and the "flow" that links the past, present and future. He also encouraged young Buck to study Chinese classical novels and taught her about the "Complete Library of the Four Treasuries" that was stored in Zhenjiang's Wenzong Ge, an ancient library.