Seven Castles

Hua Mulan

                                      

August 17, 2006

 

Hua Mulan is the heroine who joined an all-male army described in a famous Chinese poem written during the period of the Northern Dynasties (420-589) and first collected in Yuefu, the Song Dynasty anthology of lyrics, songs, and poems. Whether she was a historical person or whether the poem was an allegory has been debated through centuries. One thing for certain is that the original author's identity is lost forever.

 

In the story, Mulan disguised herself as a man to take her elderly father's place in the army, as news broke out that one man from each family would have to go and fight the Huns. She cut her hair short and put on her father's armor, fastened his weapons to the horse's saddle and the rest of the army came and picked up her. For the next ten years she showed remarkable skill as a warrior and became a female general. She was offered a government post by the emperor himself after her service was up. She turned down the position to return to her family. Later, when her former comrades visited her at home, they were shocked to see her dressed as a woman.

 

The story was expanded into a novel during the late Ming Dynasty. On June 5, 1998, Disney released an animated movie entitled Mulan loosely based on the story, making the legendary Chinese heroine famous worldwide. Interestingly, two new films of "Mulan" are reportedly shot and Li Yuchun, the winner of the Super Girls singing competition in 2005, was rumored to play the lead role in Stanley Tong's version of the Hua Mulan story. Anyway, the story first came to the screen in a Chinese film produced in 1956.

 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2006年08月17日 星期四 06:09】【注册】【打印】