Hua Mulan () is a legendary Chinese

folk hero A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythology, mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in Folk music, folk songs, folk tales ...

ine from the

Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...

era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history.

Scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...

generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicted in the '' Wu Shuang Pu'' (, ''Table of Peerless Heroes'') by Jin Guliang.

Overview

According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as a man. In the story, after prolonged and distinguished military service against nomadic hordes beyond the northern frontier, Mulan is honored by the emperor, but she declines a position of high office. She retires to her hometown, where she is reunited with her family and, much to the astonishment of her comrades, reveals herself as a woman.

First mentions

The first written record of Mulan is the ''Ballad of Mulan'', a

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

believed to have been composed during the

Northern Wei dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an imperial dynasty of Chi ...

(386–535 CE) and included in an anthology of books and songs during the Southern Chen dynasty (557–589 CE). While this anthology is itself lost, significant excerpts, including the Ballad of Mulan, survive in the Song dynasty anthology (). The historical setting of the ''Ballad of Mulan'' is usually the Northern Wei's military campaigns against the nomadic

Rouran The Rouran Khaganate ( Chinese: zh, c=, p=Róurán, label=no), also known as Ruanruan or Juan-juan ( zh, c=, p=Ruǎnruǎn, label=no) (or variously ''Jou-jan'', ''Ruruan'', ''Ju-juan'', ''Ruru'', ''Ruirui'', ''Rouru'', ''Rouruan'' or ''Tantan'') ...

. A later adaptation has Mulan active around the founding of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

(). The story of Mulan was taken up in a number of later works, including the 17th-century work of historical fiction ', and many screen and stage adaptations.

Sources

The '' Ballad of Mulan'' was first transcribed in the ''Musical Records of Old and New'', a compilation of books and songs by the monk Zhijiang in the Southern Chen dynasty in the 6th century. The earliest extant text of the poem comes from an 11th- or 12th-century anthology known as the ''

Music Bureau The Music Bureau (Traditional Chinese character, Traditional Chinese: 樂府; Simplified Chinese character, Simplified Chinese: 乐府; Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin: ''yuèfǔ'', and sometimes known as the "Imperial Music Bureau") served in the capacity o ...

Collection'', whose author, Guo Maoqian, explicitly mentions the ''Musical Records of Old and New'' as his source for the poem. As a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, the lines do not necessarily have equal numbers of syllables. The poem consists of 31

couplet In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

s and is mostly composed of five-character phrases, with a few extending to seven or nine. An adaptation by playwright

Xu Wei Xu Wei (, 1521–1593), also known as Qingteng Shanren (), was a Chinese painter, playwright, poet, and tea master during the Ming dynasty. Cihai: Page 802.Barnhart: Page 232. Life Xu's courtesy names were Wenqing (文清) and then later Wenc ...

(d. 1593) dramatized the tale as "The Female Mulan" or, more fully, "The Heroine Mulan Goes to War in Her Father's Place", in two acts. Later, the character of Mulan was incorporated into the ''Romance of Sui and Tang'', a novel written by Chu Renhuo (). Over time, the story of Mulan rose in popularity as a folk tale among the Chinese people.

Name

The heroine of the poem is given different family names in different versions of her story. The ''Musical Records of Old and New'' states Mulan's given name is not known and therefore implies Mulan is her surname. As the ''Ballad of Mulan'' is set in the Northern Wei dynasty when northern China was ruled by ethnic

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

, a proto-Mongolic people, there is some evidence that Mulan was not ethnic

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

but Xianbei, who had exclusively

compound surnames In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

. Mulan may have been the sinified version of the Xianbei word "umran" which means prosperous. According to later books such as ''Female Mulan'', her family name is Zhu (), while the ''Romance of Sui and Tang'' says it is Wei (). The family name ''Hua'' (), which was introduced by

, has become the most popular in recent years, in part because of its more poetic meaning and association with the given name "Mulan" (), which literally means "

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

Historicity

Mulan's name is included in Yan Xiyuan's '' One Hundred Beauties'', which describes a number of women from Chinese folklore. It is still unclear whether Mulan was a historical person or just a legend, as her name does not appear in ''Exemplary Women'', a collection of biographies of women who lived during Northern Wei dynasty. Although ''The Ballad of Mulan'' itself does not expressly indicate the historical setting, the story is commonly attributed to the Northern Wei dynasty due to geographic and cultural references in the ballad.(Chinese
暮雨, "燕山胡骑鸣啾啾《木兰辞》背后的鲜卑汉化与柔然战争"
Accessed 2020-09-06 The Northern Wei dynasty was founded by the

Tuoba The Tuoba (Chinese language, Chinese) or Tabgatch (, ''Tabγač''), also known by #Names, other names, was an influential Xianbei clan in early imperial China. During the Sixteen Kingdoms after the fall of Han and the Three Kingdoms, the Tuoba e ...

clan of ethnic

who united northern China in the 4th century CE ( Conquest dynasty). The Tuoba Xianbei rulers were themselves nomads from the northern steppes and became sinified as they ruled and settled in northern China. The Tuoba Xianbei took on the Chinese dynasty name "Wei", changed their own surname from "Tuoba" to "Yuan", and moved the capital from Pingcheng, modern-day

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province, China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population o ...

, Shanxi in the northern periphery of

Imperial China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

, to

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

, south of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

, in the Central Plain, the traditional heartland of China. The emperors of the Northern Wei were known both by the sacred Chinese title, "

Son of Heaven Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchial and imperial title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty ...

", and by "

Khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...

", the title of the leader of nomadic kingdoms. ''The Ballad of Mulan'' refers to the sovereign by both titles. The Northern Wei also adopted the governing institutions of Imperial China, and the office of ''shangshulang'' () the Khagan offered Mulan is a ministerial position within the ''shangshusheng'' (), the highest organ of executive power under the emperor. This offering indicates Mulan was trained in the martial arts and literary arts as she was capable of serving as a civilian official charged with issuing and interpreting written government orders. The Xianbei in China also retained certain nomadic traditions, and Xianbei women were typically skilled horseback riders. Another popular Northern Wei folk poem called "Li Bo's Younger Sister" praises Yong Rong, Li Bo's younger sister, for her riding and archery skills. ''The Ballad of Mulan'' may have reflected the gender roles and status of women in nomadic societies. The Northern Wei was engaged in protracted military conflict with the nomadic

, who frequently raided the northern Chinese frontier to loot and pillage. Northern Wei emperors considered the Rouran to be uncivilized "

barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

" and called them ''Ruanruan'' () or "wriggling worms". According to the ''

Book of Wei The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to 5 ...

'', the dynasty's

official history An official history is a work of history which is sponsored, authorised or endorsed by its subject. The term is most commonly used for histories which are produced for a government. The term also applies to commissions from non-state bodies includi ...

Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei ((北)魏太武帝, 408 – 11 March 452), personal name Tuoba Tao (拓拔燾), Xianbei name Büri (佛貍), was the third Emperor of China, emperor of China's Northern Wei dynasty. He was generally regarded as a capa ...

launched a military expedition in 429 against the Rouran by advancing on the Black Mountain and then extending northward to the Yanran Mountain. Both locations are cited in ''The Ballad''. The Black Mountain corresponds to Shahu Mountain (), located southeast of modern-day

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the Capital (political), capital of Inner Mongolia in the North China, north of the China, People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrativ ...

in Inner Mongolia. Yan Mountain, the shorthand for Yanran Mountain (), is now known as the

Khangai Mountains The Khangai Mountains form a mountain range, range in central Mongolia, some west of Ulaanbaatar. Name Two provinces of Mongolia are named after the Khangai mountains: Arkhangai (North Khangai) and Ovorkhangai (South Khangai). The mild climat ...

of central

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

.(Chinese
顾农 "两首《木兰诗》的异同" 《文汇报》
2019-01-18 The Northern Wei sought to protect the frontier by establishing a string of frontier garrison commands across what is today Inner Mongolia.

''Ballad of Mulan''

Mulan sighs at her loom. The

is mobilizing the military, and her father is named in each of the conscription notices from the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

. As the eldest child, she decides to take her father's place. She buys a fine horse from the eastern market,

saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...

and

stirrup A stirrup is a light frame or ring that holds the foot of a rider, attached to the saddle by a strap, often called a ''stirrup leather''. Stirrups are usually paired and are used to aid in mounting and as a support while using a riding animal ...

from the western market,

bridle A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the "bridle" includes both the that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit. It prov ...

and reins from the southern market and a long

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

from the northern market. She bids farewell to her parents in the morning and leaves for the Black Mountain, encamping by the

in the evening, where she cannot hear the calls of her parents due to the rushing waters; only the sounds of the barbarians' cavalry in the Yan Mountains. She advances ten thousand '' li'' to battle as if flying past the mountains. The sound of the sentry gong cuts through the cold night air, and the moonlight reflects off her metal armor. A hundred battles take place, and generals die. After the ten-year campaign, the veterans return to meet the

(

Mandate of Heaven The Mandate of Heaven ( zh, t=天命, p=Tiānmìng, w=, l=Heaven's command) is a Chinese ideology#Political ideologies, political ideology that was used in History of China#Ancient China, Ancient China and Chinese Empire, Imperial China to legit ...

), enthroned in the splendid palace, who confers promotions in rank and prizes of hundreds of thousands. He asks Mulan what she would like. Mulan turns down the high-ranking position of ''shangshulang'' in the central government, and asks only for a speedy steed to take her home. Her parents, upon hearing her return, welcome her outside their hometown. Her elder sister puts on her fine dress. Her younger brother sharpens the knife for the swine and sheep. Mulan returns to her room, changes from her tabard into her old clothes. She combs her hair by the window and, before the mirror, fastens golden yellow flowers. Her comrades are shocked to see her. For twelve years of their enlistment together, they hadn't realized that she was a woman. Mulan responds with:

''Romance of Sui and Tang''

Chu Renhuo's (c. 1675) provides additional backdrops and plot-twists. Here, Mulan lives under the rule of Heshana Khan of the

Western Turkic Khaganate The Western Turkic Khaganate () or Onoq Khaganate () was a Turkic khaganate in Eurasia, formed as a result of the wars in the beginning of the 7th century (593–603 CE) after the split of the First Turkic Khaganate (founded in the 6th century o ...

. When the Khan agrees to wage war in alliance with the emergent Tang dynasty, which was poised to conquer all of China, Mulan's father Hua Hu () fears he will be conscripted into military service since he only has two daughters and an infant son. Mulan crossdresses as a man and enlists in her father's stead. She is intercepted by the forces of the Xia king Dou Jiande and is brought under questioning by the king's warrior daughter Xianniang (), who tries to recruit Mulan as a man. Discovering Mulan to be a fellow female warrior, she is so delighted that they become sworn sisters. In the ''Sui Tang Romance'', Mulan comes to a tragic end, a "detail that cannot be found in any previous legends or stories associated Hua Mulan", and believed to have been interpolated by the author Chu Renho. Xianniang's father is vanquished after siding with the enemy of the Tang dynasty, and the two sworn sisters, with knives in their mouths, surrender themselves to be executed in the place of the condemned man. This act of filial piety wins a reprieve from

Emperor Taizong of Tang Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty fo ...

, and the imperial consort, who was birth-mother to the Emperor, bestows money to Mulan to provide for her parents, as well as wedding funds for the princess, who had confessed to having promised herself to general (). In reality, Dou Jiande was executed, but in the novel he lives on as a monk. Mulan is given leave to journey back to her homeland, and once arrangements were made for Mulan's parents to relocate, it is expected that they will all be living in the princess's old capital of Leshou (, modern

Xian County Xian County or Xianxian () is a county in the east of Hebei province of China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Cangzhou. Administrative divisions Towns: * Leshou (), Huaizhen (), Guozhuang (), Hechengjie () Tow ...

, Hebei). Mulan is devastated to discover her father has long died and her mother has remarried. According to the novel, Mulan's mother was surnamed Yuan (袁) and remarried a man named Wei (魏). Even worse, the Khan has summoned her to the palace to become his concubine. Rather than to suffer this fate, she dies by suicide. But before she dies, she entrusts an errand to her younger sister, Youlan (), which was to deliver Xianniang's letter to her fiancé, Luó Chéng. This younger sister dresses as a man to make her delivery, but her disguise is discovered, and it arouses her recipient's amorous attention. The Mulan character's suicide has been described as "baffling", since she is not in love or engaged to anyone. Some commentators have explained this as an anti-

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

message: the author supposedly wanted to suggest that "even a half-Chinese woman would prefer death by her own hand to serving a foreign ruler". In the novel, Mulan's mother was from the Central Plain of China, but her father was from

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

during the

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...

dynasty and presumably of Xianbei origin.

Modern adaptations

The story of Hua Mulan has inspired a number of screen and stage adaptations.

Stage

*'' Mulan Joins the Army'' (1917 play) starring

Mei Lanfang Mei Lan (22 October 1894 – 8 August 1961), better known by his stage name Mei Lanfang, was a notable Chinese Peking opera artist in Chinese theater, modern Chinese theater. Mei was known as the "Queen of Peking Opera". Mei was exclusively know ...

*'' Mulan Jr.'', a one-act stage musical based on the 1998 Disney animated film ''Mulan'' *''The Legend of Marissa Inouye'' (2013 dance production) by the

Hong Kong Dance Company Hong may refer to: Places *Høng, a town in Denmark *Hong Kong, a city and a special administrative region in China *Hong, Nigeria *Hong River in China and Vietnam *Lake Hong in China Surnames *Hong (Chinese surname) *Hong (Korean surname) O ...

*''The Ballad of Mulan" Red Dragonfly Productions, UK

Films

*'' Hua Mulan Joins the Army'' (1927 film) – a silent film released by

Tianyi Film Company Tianyi Film Company (), also called Unique Film Productions, was one of the "big three" film production companies in pre-Second World War Republic of China. Founded in Shanghai in 1925 by the Shaw (Shao) brothers led by Runje Shaw (Shao Zuiweng ...

and directed by Li Pingqian. *'' Mulan Joins the Army'' (1928 film) –

Mingxing Film Company The Mingxing Film Company ( zh, c=明星影片公司, p=Míngxīng Yǐngpiàn Gōngsī), also credited as the Star Motion Picture Production Company, was a production company active in the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China bet ...

production, directed by

Hou Yao Hou Yao (1903–1942) was a pioneering Chinese film director, screenwriter, and Film theory, film theorist. He wrote and directed many films including ''The Discarded Wife'' (1924), ''Romance of the Western Chamber (1927 film), Romance of the Wes ...

. The film was unsuccessful, in part due to the Tianyi film that was released the previous year. *'' Mulan Joins the Army'' (1939 film) (original English title ''Hua Mu Lan''), – Chinese film made during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, directed by

Bu Wancang Bu Wancang (July 1, 1900 – December 30, 1973), also known by his English name Richard Poh, was a prolific China, Chinese film director and screenwriter active between the 1920s and the 1960s. He was born in Anhui. Career Originally a member o ...

and written by

Ouyang Yuqian Ouyang Yuqian (; May 12, 1889 – September 21, 1962) was a Chinese playwright, Peking opera actor and writer, film screenwriter and director, and drama educator. He is considered by drama historians as one of the three founders of the modern Chi ...

. The film also created a large spark of popularity, in terms of literature. *''Hua Mulan'' (1951 film) - Yueju opera film starring Yam Kim-fai *''New Mulan Joins the Army'' (1953 film) - Yueju opera film starring Yu So-chow *''Hua Mulan'' (1956 film) - Yuju opera film starring Chang Xiangyu *'' Lady General Hua Mu-lan'' (1964 film) – Hong Kong Huangmeixi opera film starring Ling Po *''Mulan Joins the Army'' (1961 film) - Yueju opera film starring Tang Bik-wan *''New Mulan Joins the Army'' (1964 film) - Yueju opera film starring Fung Wong Nui *'' Saga of Mulan'' (1994 film) – Film adaptation of the Longjiangju xiqu opera based on the legend. *''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century Common Era, CE) of Chinese history. Scholar, Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicte ...

'' (1998 film) – A Disney animated feature, and the basis of many derivative works by Disney. The Mulan character, named Fa Mulan, has appeared in other media and promotions, usually as part of the ''

Disney Princess ''Disney Princess'', also called the ''Princess Line'', is a media franchise and toy line owned by the Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney, the franchise features a lineup of female protagonists who hav ...

'' product line. **''

Mulan II ''Mulan II'' is a 2004 American animated direct-to-video musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Disneytoon Studios and distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. The film was directed by Darrell Rooney and Lynne Southe ...

'' (2004 film) – A direct-to-video animated sequel. **''

'' (2020 film) – A live action remake. *''

, Rise of a Warrior'' (2009 film) – Chinese live action film. * '' Matchless Mulan'' () (2020 film) – Chinese live action film. * ''Mulan zhi Jinguo yinghao'' () (2020 film) – Chinese live action film. * ''Hua Mulan'' () (2020 film) – Chinese live action film starring Liu Chuxian () as the leading actress. * ''Kung Fu Mulan'' () (2020 film) – Chinese CGI animation film. * ''Mulan Legend'' () (2020 film) – Chinese live action film. * The Legend of Mulan (1998 film) – Dutch animated film.

Television series

*'' A Tough Side of a Lady'' (1998 series) – Hong Kong TVB drama series of Mulan starring Mariane Chan as Hua Mulan. *''Hua Mu Lan'' (1999 series) – Taiwan CTV period drama serial starring

Anita Yuen Anita Yuen Wing Yee (born 4 September 1971) is a Hong Kong actress and beauty pageant titleholder. She is best known for her roles in the films '' C'est la vie, mon chéri'' (1993), '' He's a Woman, She's a Man'' (1994), and '' From Beijing with Lo ...

as Hua Mulan. *

Jamie Chung Jamie Jilynn Chung (born April 10, 1983) is an American actress and former reality television personality. She began her career in 2004 as a cast member on the MTV reality series '' The Real World: San Diego'' and subsequently through her appea ...

portrays Mulan in the second, third and fifth seasons of the U.S. TV series ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

'' (2012–2013), this iteration is loosely based on the Disney portrayal. *''Mu Lan'' () (2012) – China production with

Elanne Kong Elanne Kong (, born 30 September 1987) is a Hong Kong actress and singer. On 15 May 2020, she announced that she was changing her stage name from Elanne Kwong Yeuk-lam () to Elanne Kwong Yee-ching (). On 11 September 2021, she announced that she c ...

starring as Mu Lan *''The Legend of Hua Mulan'' () (2013) –

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

production starring Hou Meng Yao, Dylan Kuo, Liu De Kai, Ray Lui, Dai Chunrong and Angel Wang. It consists of forty-nine episodes. *''Star of Tomorrow: Hua Mulan'' () (2015) – a Hunan TV children's program which features all-child casts performing classic Chinese tales, produced a two-part adaptation of Hua Mulan in 2017, based largely on the Disney film and featuring Chinese versions of well-known songs from ''Mulan'' and other Disney films. *Mulan is portrayed in the Rooster Teeth web series RWBY as a young male named Lie Ren. All of the members of his team are based on legendary figures who dressed as the opposite sex in their stories

Literature

* Maxine Hong Kingston revisited Mulan's tale in her 1975 '' The Woman Warrior''. Kingston's version popularized the story in the West and may have led to the Disney animated feature adaptation. *''The Legend of Mu Lan: A Heroine of Ancient China'' was the first English language picture book featuring the character Mulan published in the United States in 1992 by Victory Press. *In the fantasy/alternate history novel '' Throne of Jade'' (2006), China's aerial corps is described as being composed of all female captains and their dragons due to the precedent set by the legendary woman warrior. * Cameron Dokey created 'Wild Orchid' in 2009, a retelling of the ''Ballad of Mulan'' as part of the

Once Upon A Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

series of novels published by Simon Pulse, an imprint of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. *In the comics, '' Deadpool Killustrated'' (2013), Hua Mulan, along with

Natty Bumppo Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is a fictional character and the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the ''Leatherstocking Tales''. He appears throughout the series as an archetypal American ranger, and has been portrayed ...

and

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

, is brought together by

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

and

Dr. Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...

(using

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

's time machine) to stop

Deadpool Deadpool is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (December 1990). In his comic book appearances, Deadpool is ...

from killing all beloved literary characters and destroying the literary universe. *''Reflection'' by Elizabeth Lim was published in 2018 as an installment in Disney Press' Twisted Tales series. This is an alternate ending to the Disney film in which Mulan must travel to

Diyu ''Diyu'' () is the realm of the dead or "hell" in Chinese mythology. It is loosely based on a combination of the Buddhist concept of Naraka (Buddhism), Naraka, traditional Chinese beliefs about the afterlife, and a variety of popular expansion ...

, the Underworld, to save her captain. *In ''The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan'' by Sherry Thomas (2019), Mulan has trained in the martial arts since childhood in preparation for a hereditary duel. When she goes to war in her father's stead, she is shocked to discover her team's captain is also her opponent in the duel. *''Mulan: Before the Sword'', written by Grace Lin (2020) and published by Disney Press, is written as a prequel to the Disney live action movie released in the same year.

Children's books

*''Wuloom Family'' (episode 5) – in Chinese *''The Ballad of Mulan'' by Song Nan Zhang (1998) – in English *''I am Hua Mulan'', by Qin Wenjun, illust. Yu Rong (2017) – in Chinese *''Mulan: The Legend of the Woman Warrior'', by Faye-Lynn Wu, illustrated by Joy Ang (2019)

Video games

* ''

Kingdom Hearts II ''Kingdom Hearts II'' is a 2005 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios, Buena Vista Games for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The game is a sequel to ''Kingdom Hear ...

'' – Mulan is an optional party member in the Land of Dragons. Note that this is the Disney version of the character. * '' Smite'' – Mulan is a playable character * '' Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV'' – Mulan is an unlockable Legendary officer that can be added at the beginning of new scenarios in the game. * ''

Civilization VI ''Sid Meier's Civilization VI'' is a 2016 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K (company), 2K. The mobile and Nintendo Switch ports were published by Aspyr Media. It is the sequel to ''Civilization V'' ...

'' – Mulan is a summonable hero in the Heroes and Legends game mode * ''Goddess of Genesis'' – Mulan is a summonable hero through the game's gacha mechanism * ''

'' – Mulan video game from 1998, based on the Disney iteration, playable on a

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

. * Mulan is a playable character in the Mobile/PC Game '' Rise of Kingdoms''.

Tribute in astronomy

The Hua Mulan crater on

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

is named for her.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Ballad of Mulan
from Columbia University
Information on the historical Mulan

a bilingual Chinese/English children's picture book

The original poem in Chinese and English side-by-side translation.
'The Ballad of Mulan': A Rhyming Translation
Translation by Evan Mantyk
''Hua Mu Lan''
��1939 film, directed by Richard Poh u Wancang with English subtitles
The female individual and the empire: A historicist approach to Mulan and Kingston's woman warrior

* ttp://zhongwen.com/mulan.htm The poem in printed Chinese, with hyperlinks to definitions and etymologies
Who is Hua Mulan?, by Minjie Chen, Cotsen Children's Library, Princeton University, 10 June 2024
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulan, Hua Chinese poems Chinese warriors Fictional Chinese people in literature Fictional cross-dressers Fictional female generals Heroes in mythology and legend Legendary Chinese people Women in ancient Chinese warfare Women warriors Asian people whose existence is disputed

Overview

First mentions

Sources

Name

Historicity

''Ballad of Mulan''

''Romance of Sui and Tang''

Modern adaptations

Stage

Films

Television series

Literature

Children's books

Video games

Tribute in astronomy

See also

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading

External links