After all, those who supported the patriarchy would have praised a woman for sacrificing everything to save her father.Īlthough most modern historians assume that the Ballad of Mulan is a work of fiction, it was not until recent times that the historicity of Mulan began to be questioned. However, not all experts are in agreement. Some scholars have argued that this final line stands in stark contrast against China’s patriarchal culture, thus supporting the notion that the Ballad of Mulan was written during an era when Confucian values temporarily lost their sway over Chinese thought. The Ballad concludes by commenting, “When a pair of rabbits run side by side, who can distinguish male from female?” Upon returning, she is offered a prominent position but turns it down her only request is that she be sent home to her family.Īfter Mulan is reunited with her parents and she has resumed her feminine appearance, her comrades are shocked to discover that she is a woman-for the twelve years that they fought together, none of them had suspected anything. Because Mulan has no elder brother, she is resolved to take her father’s place. The version that was finally put into writing begins with Mulan sitting in front of her loom, weeping over the fact that her father has just received his conscription orders.
This copy of the Ballad was penned by Song dynasty calligrapher Mi Fu in 1094 AD (Public domain).
But as an anonymous and undated work, very little can be said about it with certainty. The Balad most likely began as oral tradition, and was passed down for over a century until it was finally preserved in written form during the Tang dynasty. Most likely composed during the era of Northern Wei (around 400 AD), this one poem ended up inspiring countless retellings for centuries to come. The Ballad of Mulan is the oldest known version of Mulan’s story. Northern Wei (386–534 AD) The Ballad of Mulan (木蘭辭)
0 kommentar(er)
