The first sentence of Chapter 10 emphasizes the relationship between Wang Lung and the land. He can leave his house in order to go south and do no more than "pull the door right upon its wooden hinges and fasten the iron hasp." And in Chapter 15, when he returns, he takes up the land as he left it. This resumption emphasizes the continuation of the land with the owner. Wang Lung and his family have been gone for a few years, and yet when they return, the land is still intact and is still theirs.
Note here that Wang Lung's religion fluctuates with his personal fortunes. Earlier, when he was fortunate, he gave incense to the little earth gods. Now that he is forced to leave his land, he walks right by the "little temple with the two small stately gods within, who never notice anything that passed." Wang Lung's religion is not a coherent set of beliefs — instead, it is the combination of many types of superstitions that are common to a primitive person.
Wang Lung passes the House of Hwang and is bitter about the fortunes of the rich. Later on, we must remember that he gets rich because he and O-lan participate in the pillaging of a house of a rich lord in the "southern city" and that still further on, when Wang Lung's wealth is established, he is also invaded by an army of revolutionaries. The "thousand curses to the parents that bore the children of Hwang" will ultimately become a type of curse on the House of Wang, particularly as Wang's children begin to revolt against their father.
Wang Lung's provincialism is also emphasized in this chapter as he acknowledges that he has heard of "firewagons" (trains), but he has never seen one, much less ridden on one. Again, as in the title, Pearl Buck is emphasizing the relationship of the farmer with his good earth. As Wang Lung says in this chapter, it is not "well for a man to know more than is necessary for his daily living." The main concern of this first part of the novel is the matter of ekeing out the necessities for everyday living.
