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Hua Mulan
Heroine of the Northern Dynasties 'Ballad of Mulan', who took her father's place in the army disguised as a man; her surname Hua first appears in a Ming play
In lantern light and drifting smoke, a row of painted theatrical masks stands on a wooden rail beneath a glowing paper dragon lantern and hanging red lanterns; a folding screen painted with a river, a bridge and hills stands at the right, with a bronze burner and small lamps on the floor.
- Roles
- Cultural Persona
Hua Mulan is the heroine of the 'Ballad of Mulan' (Mulan shi), a folk song of the Northern Dynasties, and whether she ever lived cannot be established. The ballad was first recorded in a music catalogue compiled by the monk Zhijiang under the Chen dynasty, and the Song anthologist Guo Maoqian placed it in his Collection of Music Bureau Poems (Yuefu shiji). It tells how, when the khan called up troops and her father's name was on the roll, Mulan, who had no elder brother, bought a horse and went to war in his place dressed as a man. Returning after years of campaigning, she declined the post the emperor offered and asked only for a swift mount to carry her home, where she put on her own clothes and astonished her comrades. The ballad gives no surname; Hua first appears in Xu Wei's Ming play The Female Mulan. Shrines at Huangpi in Hubei and Yucheng in Henan each claim her as a native.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; heroine of the Northern Dynasties Ballad of Mulan