Mulan: Different Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend

Mulan is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era of Chinese history, roughly from 4th to 6th century CE. The story of Mulan was originally told in Ballad of Mulan as a Yuefu (樂府) genre, in which Chinese poems were composed in a folk song style. Over the centuries, the story of Mulan has been reiterated, being performed on the stage, adapted for the screen, and rewritten as dramas for television and even animated films. 

Joining us today is Dr. Shiamin Kwa, associate professor of East Asian languages and cultures and comparative literature at Bryn Mawr College. Among her expertise ranging from graphic narratives to Chinese literature, she is best known for her book with Wilt Idema titled Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend.

Recommended Reading:
Shiamin Kwa, Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend
 
Primary Text: The Ballad of Mulan by anonymous
(The English translation is included in Shiamin Kwa's Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend)

The original text:
木蘭詩

唧唧復唧唧，木蘭當戶織。不聞機杼聲，惟聞女嘆息。
問女何所思，問女何所憶。女亦無所思，女亦無所憶。
昨夜見軍帖，可汗大點兵。軍書十二卷，捲捲有爺名。
阿爺無大兒，木蘭無長兄。願為市鞍馬，從此替爺徵。
東市買駿馬，西市買鞍韉，南市買轡頭，北市買長鞭。
旦辭爺娘去，暮宿黃河邊。不聞爺娘喚女聲，但聞黃河流水鳴濺濺。
旦辭黃河去，暮至黑山頭。不聞爺娘喚女聲，但聞燕山胡騎鳴啾啾。
 
萬里赴戎機，關山度若飛。朔氣傳金柝，寒光照鐵衣。
將軍百戰死，壯士十年歸。

歸來見天子，天子坐明堂。策勳十二轉，賞賜百千強。
可汗問所欲，木蘭不用尚書郎，願馳千里足，送兒還故鄉。

爺娘聞女來，出郭相扶將；阿姊聞妹來，當戶理紅妝；
小弟聞姊來，磨刀霍霍向豬羊。

開我東閣門，坐我西閣床。脫我戰時袍，著我舊時裳。
當窗理雲鬢，對鏡帖花黃。出門看伙伴，伙伴皆驚惶。
同行十二年，不知木蘭是女郎。

雄兔腳撲朔，雌兔眼迷離；雙兔傍地走，安能辨我是雄雌？

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Transcript

A sigh, a sigh, and then again a sigh— Mulan was sitting at the door and weaving. 

One did not hear the sound of loom and shuttle, One only heard her heave these heavy sighs. 

When she was asked the object of her love, When she was asked who occupied her thoughts, She did not have a man she was in love with, There was no boy who occupied her thoughts. 

“Last night I saw the summons from the army, The Khan is mobilizing all his troops. The list of summoned men comes in twelve copies: Every copy lists my father’s name! My father has, alas, no grown-up son, And I, Mulan, I have no adult brother. 

I want to buy a saddle and a horse, To take my father’s place and join the army.” The eastern market: there she bought a horse; The western market: there she bought a saddle. The southern market: there she bought a bridle; The northern market: there she bought a whip. 

At dawn she said good-bye to her dear parents, At night she rested by the Yellow River. 

She did not hear her parents’ voices, calling for their daughter, She only heard the Yellow River’s flowing water, always splashing, splashing. 

At dawn she left the Yellow River’s bank; At night she rested on Black Mountain’s top. 

She did not hear her parents’ voices, calling for their daughter, She only heard the whinnying of Crimson Mountain’s Hunnish horsemen.

Myriads of miles: she joined the thick of battle, Crossing the mountain passes as if flying. 

Winds from the north transmitted metal rattles, A freezing light shone on her iron armor. 

A hundred battles and the brass were dead; After ten years the bravest men returned. When they returned, they met the Son of Heaven, The Son of Heaven seated on his throne. 

Their honorary rank went up twelve steps, And their rewards were counted in the millions. The Khan asked Mulan what he might desire— “I, Mulan, do not care for an appointment here at court.  Give me your racer good for a thousand miles,  To take me back again to my old hometown.” 

Hearing their daughter had arrived, her parents Went out the city, welcoming her back home. Hearing her elder sister had arrived, her sister Put on her bright red outfit at the door. 

Hearing his elder sister had arrived, her brother Sharpened his knife that brightly flashed in front of pigs and sheep. 

“Open the gate to my pavilion on the east, Let me sit down in my old western room. I will take off the dress I wore in battle; I will put on the skirt I used to wear.” 

Close to the window she did up her hair; Facing the mirror she applied makeup. 

She went outside and saw her army buddies—Her army buddies were all flabbergasted: “We marched together for these twelve long years And absolutely had no clue that Mulan was a girl!” 

“The male hare wildly kicks its feet; The female hare has shifty eyes, But when a pair of hares runs side by side, Who can distinguish whether I in fact am male or female?”

（translated by Wilt Idema）

Mulan is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era of Chinese history, roughly from 4th to 6th century CE. 

The story of Mulan was originally told in Ballad of Mulan as a Yuefu genre, in which Chinese poems were composed in a folk song style. Over the centuries, the story of Mulan has been reiterated ; being performed on the stage, adapted for the screen, and rewritten as dramas for television and even animated films. 

Joining us today is Dr. Shiamin Kwa, associate professor of East Asian languages and cultures and comparative literature at Bryn Mawr College. Among her expertise ranging from graphic narratives to Chinese literature, She is best known for her book with Wilt Idema titled Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend.

Welcome Shiamin and thank you for joining us today. What inspired you to put together these five different versions of Mulan? Why these choices in particular? 

What are the key rhetorics of the poem that you think are important for us to learn about?

Many readers find it unbelievable and unconvincing that Mulan has never been discovered as a woman during her 12 years of serving as an army soldier. This may be one of the reasons that led many ensuing writers and playwrights to supplement additional details to the original narrative. Could you walk us through the major narratorial and rhetorical shifts that might have provided some explanations either for this particular dubiosity or just as a matter of overall evolutionary process?

What can we learn about women’s status and the social expectation of a woman from Mulan’s cross-dressing? 

How can a poem written by a minor ethnicity that endorsed women’s success in their society survive the censorship of Confucianism which was the dominant ideology of the Chinese Han culture and which literally looked down upon women? In other words, how did the Ballad of Mulan even get assimilated into the Han culture?

In Xu Wei’s version, according to what you wrote, that for the first time, the author highlighted that Mulan’s surname is Hua. It’s interesting because Hua is not a Chinese Han name, and therefore this indicated Mulan’s ethnicity as non-Han. How does this subtle detail help us understand the role of gender in Mulan’s own ethnic culture and how is it different from the dominant Han culture?

Gender and ethnicity have always been an informing yet vexed issue when we  contemplate Mulan as a narrative discourse, given that Mulan assumes a different identity every time on paper or on stage. Some critics view it as cultural appropriation. What do you think of these criticisms?

Even though these different versions carry different social and historical connotations,  in your opinion, what should deserve our appreciation of these adaptations or what should be commonly shared with Mulan’s story, and finally what makes the narrative transcend time, space and cultural borders?

Thank you for the wonderful insights on Mulan that you’ve shared with us today.