In writing The Good Earth, Buck intentionally leaves few historical clues that would definitively reveal when the novel takes place. While some reviewers consider her descriptions of events inaccurate because they don’t coincide perfectly with the chronological record of Chinese history, Buck likely wanted to avoid doing this so that the background setting of the story—rural farmers irrevocably connected to the agricultural land—would be universal in nature as opposed to relating exclusively to a specific era. Of the historical hints the author leaves, the advent of locomotives, firearms, and the opium trade imply that these events happen around 1910. However, the siege of Nanking (now Nanjing)—which most reviewers think is the great southern city she describes—occurred 50 years earlier. In estimating the timeframe of the novel, one must remember that the story of Wang Lung covers 50 years. Since the book was first published in 1931, the most logical timeline would be the last 30 years of the 19th century and the first 20 years of the 20th century.

Although the main characters travel to a large city for several months, most of the action takes place in the farmland around a rural village.