CHINESE PEASANT IN PEARL BUCK'S EYES Zhao Mei（137） Judging from its aesthetic value, Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth is not a literary work of excellence. Rather, it is a popular novel. Its meaning lies in the fact that, while the outside world knew little about China, Buck gave in English a portrayal of Chinese peasants, whose feelings that one has to return to earth, life or death, are shared by all mankind.