Mulan Joins the Army

Mulan Joins the Army. By Sergio Daub III.

History of the Tale of Mulan. The story of Mulan first made its appearance in China as an ancient Chinese folk ballad. The story about Mulan , a warrior maiden who battled while dressed as a male soldier and shone, was retold for hundreds of years . The earliest written account of Mulan was in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, in a narrative poem called " Mulan Ci ". It was written in the Northern Wei Dynasties, but also included in the Ancient and Modern Music Records of Chen in the Southern Dynasty . There are specific parts of the story that are present in its many retellings: a young woman takes the place of her elderly father in war, disguises as a man, serves her country, and returns home with honor and glory to resume her life as a woman. Many historians have written about this film because of its controversy, and the producer had to make a deal with Japanese authorities to distribute the film in Japanese occupied areas ..

Plot. Hua Mulan , the heroine, is a young maiden who lives with her elderly father during the Northern Wei dynasty. Mulan is a mischievous girl who is also skilled in martial arts and archery as her father has raised her. After a day of hunting, she tricks some village people from the Li village into letting her go after setting up a ruse for an impossible archery challenge. Upon returning, she learns that her father has been conscripted for the war effort and decides to go in his stead ..

On the day of departure, Mulan is followed by two conscripts who take an interest in her. They question her designation and origin among other things before another conscript intervenes but Mulan puts an end to it with a show of humiliation . She stops at an inn and coincidentally sees the latter conscript who introduces himself as Yuandu Liu ..

For the next three years, Mulan and Yuandu work together to protect the border from the barbarian army. Yuandu reports to Mulan of a secret assault but says the commander is in denial after becoming complacent leading him to underestimate the enemy. Mulan and Yuandu manage to get approval of a reconnaissance mission to prove the assault. Yuandu and Mulan split up, having disguised a barbarian hunter and women respectively, to find the location of the army. Mulan is eventually stopped by two barbarian guards who she deceives into disclosing their army numbers. After acquiring further proof by dispatching a barbarian messenger she returns and reports directly to the Marshal her findings. The commander, who has been bribed by the enemy generals, refutes her claims saying it is all a decoy. Frustrated and persistent, Mulan continues to make preparations in secret and on the day of the attack, they manage to strategically reclaim their city as the commander is found guilty of being a traitor and is executed..

Returning to the Imperial capital, Mulan is offered a position in the Emperor's court. She turns the position down, asking only to return to her home. Returning to her feminine persona, she then marries Yuandu . After her heroic achievements and brave service to the State, Mulan finally reveals her life as a woman while Liu symbolically restores the conventional male role..

Themes. Themes of warfare and feminism can be identified throughout the movie. In 1939, the movie premiered in theaters, and China was suffering from the Second Sino-Japanese War. This film significantly glorified warfare and focused on the fame and recognition of soldiers received from serving the nation . The movie is a blend of modern and urban thoughts along with traditional cultural ideas . When China citizens needed the motivation to defend the nation from foreign aggression, the film helped inspire Chinese people to enlist and liberate their country from Japanese occupation . Mulan Joins the Army was rich in "double entendre" dialogue and was one of the primary tools to convey the political message.The author underlines the idea of a citizen's duty, not only to one's family but to the country as a whole, by describing Mulan's life after her heroic acts . During the isolated island period in Shanghai , the release of Mulan was a huge hit. This was because citizens were oppressed and Mulan's acts inspired patriotic thoughts in people's minds ..

During the male dominated time period in China, women were supposed to raise children, do housework and rarely involved themselves in politics. Mulan brought on the idea of women challenging the traditional, social and sexual orders. The ambiguity of modern women brought out different ideas in many aspects like culture, class, generation, and ethnicity. However, these female models shown through big screens inspired women to step up in those areas and begin to show their political potential . When most of the men in China enlisted in the army to defeat the Japanese, women started to step into the workforce to sustain the economy . With the political allegory, the director describes an issue that is mentioned multiple times in the movie: Chinese men are not able to protect their motherland . Also from the 1920s and 1930s, the concept of "New Woman" emerged in the media . The image of "modern Mulans " had sparked off debates over gender, modernity, and the changing relationships in early 20th century China . Bu Wancang also brings up the topic of hetero and homosexuality of the "mischievous tomboy" character despite the conservative views of the public. The theme of New Woman encouraged the aspirations of women to pursue equal education, employment, and political representation as men ..

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