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Hua Mulan (Chinese: 花木蘭) is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history. Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character.
Sep 20, 2024 · Mulan has long been a popular figure in Chinese folklore, but her legend gained particular prominence in the literature and art of the Ming (1368–1644 ce) and Qing (1644–1912 ce) dynasties. It was later popularized in the West through the animated Disney movie Mulan (1998). Notably, the Hua Mulan crater on Venus is named for her. Plot summary
- Summary & Time Period
- The Female Mulan & Succeeding Versions
- Modern-Day Mulan
- Conclusion
The story, as it is best known today through the recent films, places Mulan in an unidentified era of Imperial China (221 BCE - 1912 CE), but the original poem is set during the Northern Wei Period. The modern and ancient versions follow basically the same plot of a young girl who takes her aged father's place in the army when he is called to serve...
During the Song Dynasty, the anthologist Guo Maoqian completed his Collected Works of the Music Bureau which included documents from the work known as Musical Records Old and New from the 6th century CE, including the Mulan legend. There are no known versions of the Mulan story between the Tang Dynasty and the play The Female Mulanby the playwright...
According to Shiamin and Idema, an opera Mu Lan Joins the Army was written in 1903 CE which sets the action in the Han Dynasty with the Xiongnu (a tribe of warriors often associated with the Huns) serving as the antagonists. The story follows the same basic plot as earlier versions, but the focus is on the cowardice of men and strength of women. Sh...
The most recent Mulan (2020), incorporates a number of motifs and characters to tell the story for a new generation. An early scene in which Mulan is out riding and notices two hares running side-by-side is a direct allusion to the earliest version of the legend when the narrator points out that no one notices the difference in gender when hares ru...
- Joshua J. Mark
Nov 9, 2020 · Origin of the story. The commonly held view is that Mulan’s fictional story goes back to the 4 th or 5 th century AD – a period which coincided with the North Wei Dynasty (c. 380 AD – c. 557 AD). The story in fact began as a simple folk song in The Ballad of Mulan.
- The Ballad of Mulan. Mulan’s first known appearance, as well as the legend associated with her, came during the period of the Northern Dynasties, sometime between 380 and 580 CE in the Ballad of Mulan.
- There are historical facts contained within the ballad. Incidents are described in the ballad which took place in 429 CE, when Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei launched an expedition against the Rouran.
- The Mulan Temple. The ruins of a temple dedicated to Mulan near Hubei, China, are accompanied with a memorial stone. The date for the construction of the temple is unknown, but the inscription on the stone was likely added during the Yuan Dynasty in the 14 century.
- The Heroine Mulan Goes to War in Her Father’s Place. The original heroine in the Mulan legend was one of a nomadic people. As Han influence expanded in China, a process called “sinification”, she gradually took on more and more aspects of Han culture.
May 29, 2020 · Hua Mulan is one of the most legendary women of ancient China. Her heroic actions were first recorded in ancient texts, retold in the famous poem Ballad of Mulan, and later popularized in the 1998 Walt Disney film Mulan. Today, her story continues to be told in schools across China.
The History Behind the Legend of Hua Mulan (400 AD Onward) Ancient texts from the past 1,500 years reveal the real history behind the legend of Mulan and how it developed into what we have today. Two modern depictions of Mulan stand in opposition to the title page of the Qing dynasty novel Fierce and Filial. Artwork by Stella Su.
