Hua Mulan - wikipedia Hua Mulan `` Mulan '' redirects here. For other uses, see Mulan ( disambiguation ). Hua Mulan Mulan as depicted in the album Gathering Gems of Beauty ( 畫 麗珠 萃 秀 ) Traditional Chinese 花 木 蘭 Simplified Chinese 花 木 兰 Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Huā Mùlán Wade -- Giles Hua Mu - lan Gan Romanization Fa Muk - lan Hakka Romanization Fa Muklan Yue : Cantonese Jyutping Faa Muk - laan Southern Min Hokkien POJ Hoe Bo̍k - lân Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Hwæ Muk - lan Old Chinese Baxter -- Sagart ( 2014 ) * qwhʕra C. mʕok - k. rʕan Hua Mulan ( Chinese : 花 木蘭 ) is a legendary woman warrior from the Southern and Northern Dynasties period ( 420 -- 589 ) of Chinese history, who was originally described in a ballad known as the Ballad of Mulan ( Chinese : 木蘭 辭 ; pinyin : Mùláncí ). In the ballad, Hua Mulan takes her aged father 's place in the army. She was a beautiful woman who was very strong, and was known for practicing martial arts such as kung fu and for being skilled with the sword. Mulan fought for twelve years and gained high merit, but she refused any reward and retired to her hometown instead. The historic setting of Hua Mulan is in the Northern Wei. Over a thousand years later, Xu Wei 's play from the Ming dynasty places her in the Northern Wei ( 386 -- 536 ), whereas the Qing dynasty Sui Tang Romance has her active around the founding of the Tang c. 620. In 621, the founder of the Tang dynasty was victorious over Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, the latter was the father of Dou Xianniang, another female warrior who became Mulan 's laotong in the Sui Tang Romance. The Hua Mulan crater on Venus is named after her. Contents 1 History 1.1 Name 1.2 Historicity 2 Plot 2.1 Sui Tang Romance 3 Modern adaptations 3.1 Stage 3.2 Films 3.3 TV series 3.4 Literature 3.5 Other 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links History Painting of Hua Mulan, 18th century, housed in the British Museum The Ballad of Mulan was first transcribed in the Musical Records of Old and New ( Chinese : 古今 樂 錄 ; pinyin : Gǔjīn Yuèlù ) in the 6th century. The earliest extant text of the poem comes from an 11th or 12th century anthology known as the Music Bureau Collection ( Chinese : 樂府 詩 ; pinyin : Yuèfǔshī ). Its author, Guo Maoqian, explicitly mentions the Musical Records of Old and New as his source for the poem. As a ballad, the lines do not necessarily have equal numbers of syllables. The poem consists of 31 couplets, and is mostly composed of five - character phrases, with a few extending to seven or nine. There was no treatment of the legend since the two 12th century poems, until in the late Ming, playwright Xu Wei ( d. 1593 ) dramatized the tale as `` The Female Mulan '' ( 雌 木蘭 or, more fully, `` The Heroine Mulan Goes to War in Her Father 's Place '' ( Chinese : 雌 木蘭 替 父 從軍 ; pinyin : Cí - Mùlán Tì Fù Cóngjūn ), in two acts. Later, the character of Mulan was incorporated into the Sui - Tang Romance ( zh ), a historical novel written by Chu Renhuo ( zh ) in the 17th century, early in the Qing dynasty. Over time, the story of Hua Mulan rose in popularity as a folk tale among the Chinese people on the same level as the Butterfly Lovers. Name In Chinese, mùlán refers to the magnolia. The heroine of the poem is given different family names in different versions of her story. According to History of Ming, her family name is Zhu ( 朱 ), while the History of Qing says it is Wei ( 魏 ). The family name 花 ( Huā, lit. `` flower '' ), which was introduced by Xu Wei, has become the most popular in recent years in part because of its more poetic meaning. Historicity The story of Hua Mulan is treated more as a legend than a historical person, and her name does not appear in Exemplary Women which is a compilation of biographies of women during the Northern Wei dynasty. Her legend is, however, included in Yan Xiyuan 's One Hundred Beauties which is a compilation of various women in Chinese folklore. Plot Statue of Mulan being welcomed home, in the city of Xinxiang, China. The poem starts with Mulan sitting worriedly at her loom, as one male from each family is called to serve in the army to defend China from invaders. Her father is old and weak and her younger brother is just a child, so she decides to take his place and bids farewell to her parents, who support her. She is already skilled in fighting, having been taught martial arts, sword fighting, and archery by the time she enlists in the army. After twelve years of fighting, the army returns and the warriors are rewarded. Mulan turns down an official post, and asks only for a swift horse to carry her home. She is greeted with joy by her family. Mulan dons her old clothes and meets her comrades, who are shocked that in their years traveling together, they did not realize that she was a woman. However, this does not change their good friendship. Sui Tang Romance Chu Renhuo 's Romance of the Sui and Tang ( c. 1675 ) provides additional backdrops and plot - twists. Here, Mulan lives under the rule of Heshana Khan of the Western Turkic Khaganate. 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 ( Chinese : 花 弧 ) 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 ( Chinese : 線 娘 ), 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 can not 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. The act of filial piety wins reprieve from Emperor Taizong of Tang and the imperial consort who was birth - mother to the Emperor bestows money to Mulan to provide for her parents and wedding funds for the princess who confessed to having promised herself to general Luó Chéng ( zh ) ( Chinese : 羅 成 ). ( 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 ( Chinese : 樂 壽, modern Xian County, 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 commits suicide. But before she dies, she entrusts an errand to her younger sister, Youlan ( Chinese : 又 蘭 ), 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. In the novel, Mulan 's father was non-Han, a Xianbei ( described as `` a Hebei person of the people of the Northern Wei dynasty, ruled by the Tuoba clan '' ), while her mother was Han Chinese from the Central Plain. But `` even a Chinese woman would prefer death by her own hand to serving a foreign ruler, '' as some commentators have explained this Mulan character 's motive for committing suicide. Mulan 's words before she committed suicide were, `` I 'm a girl, I have been through war and have done enough. I now want to be with my father. '' Modern adaptations The story of Hua Mulan has inspired a number of screen and stage adaptations in the modern era, which include : Stage Mulan Joins the Army ( 1917 play ) starring Mei Lanfang The Legend of Mulan ( 2013 dance production ) by the Hong Kong Dance Company Films Hua Mulan Joins the Army ( 1927 film ) -- a silent film released by Tianyi Film Company and directed by Li Pingqian. Mulan Joins the Army ( 1928 film ) -- Mingxing Film Company production, directed by Hou Yao. The film was unsuccessful, in part due to the Tianyi film that was released the previous year. Mulan Joins the Army ( 1939 film ) -- popular Chinese film made during the Second Sino - Japanese War, directed by Bu Wancang and written by Ouyang Yuqian. The film also created a large spark of popularity, in terms of literature. Lady General Hua Mu - lan ( 1964 film ) -- Hong Kong opera film. Saga of Mulan ( 1994 film ) - Film adaptation of the Chinese opera based on the legend. The Secret of Mulan - A 1998 animated film by Hong Ying Animation, in which the characters are anthropomorphic animals. Mulan ( 1998 film ) -- Disney animated feature, and the basis of many derivative works. Disney 's version of the Mulan character has subsequently appeared in other media and promotions, mainly as part of the Disney Princess product line. Mulan II ( 2004 film ) -- Sequel that is set one month after the events of the Disney 's 1998 film. Mulan ( 2009 film ) -- Live action film about the Chinese legend. Upcoming live - action adaptation of Disney 's Mulan ( 2018 ). Upcoming live - action adaptation of Mulan legend. Will be produced by Sony Pictures and directed by Alex Graves TV series A Tough Side of a Lady ( 1998 film ) -- 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 as Hua Mulan. Jamie Chung portrays Mulan in the second, third and fifth seasons of the U.S. TV series Once Upon a Time ( 2012 - 2013 ). Mu Lan 巾幗 大 將軍 ( 2012 ) - China production with Elanne Kong starring as Mu Lan The Legend of Hua Mulan 花 木蘭 傳奇 ( 2013 ) - CCTV production starring Hou Meng Yao, Dylan Kuo, Liu De Kai, Ray Lui, Dai Chunrong and Angel Wang. It consists of forty - nine episodes. Literature Maxine Hong Kingston re-visited Mulan 's tale in her 1975 text, 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 series of novels published by Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. In the comic, Deadpool Killustrated ( 2013 ), Hua Mulan, along with Natty Bumppo, and Beowulf are brought together by Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson ( using H.G. Wells ' time machine ) to stop Deadpool from killing all beloved literary characters and destroying the literary universe. Other In Rooster Teeth Productions 's web series, RWBY ( 2013 ), Lie Ren of Team JNPR is a reserved and dutiful warrior of unspecified Asian origin who is written to be a male version of Hua Mulan. See also Woman warrior List of women warriors in folklore Notes Jump up ^ Kwa & Idema 2010, p. 12n Jump up ^ Russell, Joel F., Schaber, Gerald G. ( March 1993 ). `` Named Venusian craters ''. In Lunar and Planetary Inst., Twenty - Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Bibcode : 1993LPI... 24.1219 R. CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter ( link ) Jump up ^ `` Venus Crater Database ''. Lunar and Planetary Institute of the Universities Space Research Association. Retrieved 2011 - 05 - 06. ^ Jump up to : Kwa & Idema 2010, p. xvii Jump up ^ Huang, Martin W. ( 2006 ), Negotiating Masculinities in Late Imperial China, University of Hawaii Press, pp. 67 -- 8, ISBN 0824828968 ^ Jump up to : Kwa & Idema 2010, pp. xx - xxi, 119 -- 120 ^ Jump up to : Huang 2006, pp. 120,124 -- 5 Jump up ^ Mann, Susan. Precious Records : Women in China 's Long Eighteenth Century. Stanford University Press ; 1 edition ( May 1, 1997 ). p. 208. ISBN 978 - 0804727440 Jump up ^ `` The Legendary Warrior that Inspired Disney 's Mulan Is Pretty Badass ''. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 15. Jump up ^ Ren - Huo Chu. Suei Tang Yan Yi at Project Gutenberg, Ch. 56 ( 第 五 十 六 回 ) Jump up ^ Ren - Huo Chu. Suei Tang Yan Yi at Project Gutenberg, Ch. 59 ( 第 五 十 九 回 ) Jump up ^ Ren - Huo Chu. Suei Tang Yan Yi at Project Gutenberg, Ch. 60 ( 第 六 十 回 ) Jump up ^ Ch. 56, `` 其 父 名 弧, 字 乘 之, 拓 拔 魏 河北 人, 为 千夫 长. 续 娶 一 妻 袁 氏, 中原 人. '' Jump up ^ Huang 2006, p. 120 Jump up ^ `` Google Ngram Viewer ''. books.google.com. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 20. Jump up ^ Nguyen, Minh ( 13 September 2016 ). `` Live - Action Mulan Film Revives Anti-Whitewashing Petition ''. NBC News. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 30. Jump up ^ Fleming Jr, Mike ( 17 October 2016 ). `` ' Game Of Thrones ' Alex Graves To Helm Sony 's ' Mulan ' ''. Deadline. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 17. Jump up ^ Hibberd, James ( 5 July 2012 ). `` ' Once Upon a Time ' scoop : ' Hangover 2 ' actress cast as legendary warrior ''. EW.com. Retrieved 11 July 2012. Jump up ^ Nichols, James ( 15 October 2013 ). `` ' Once Upon A Time, ' Disney - ABC Show'October 2013 ''. HuffingtonPost.com. Jump up ^ Hong Kingston, Maxine ( 1989 ). The Woman Warrior. New York : Random House. pp. 40 -- 53. ISBN 0679721886. Jump up ^ Hu, Eileen. `` Mulan ''. www.heroinesinhistory.com. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 30. References Kwa, Shiamin ; Idema, Wilt L. ( 2010 ), Mulan : Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend with Related Texts, Hackett Publishing, ISBN 1603848711 Further reading Dong, Lan. Mulan 's Legend and Legacy in China and the United States ( Temple University Press ; 2010 ) 263 pages ; Traces literary and other images of Mulan from premodern China to contemporary China and the United States. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hua Mulan. Wikisource has original text related to this article : Ballad of Mulan Ode to Mulan The original poem in Chinese and English side - by - side translation. The poem in Chinese calligraphy ( images ), simplified characters, traditional characters, and an English translation The poem in printed Chinese, with hyperlinks to definitions and etymologies The female individual and the empire : A historicist approach to Mulan and Kingston 's woman warrior Information on the historical Mu Lan Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hua_Mulan&oldid=800596413 '' Categories : Northern Wei people Chinese folklore Chinese legends Chinese poems Chinese warriors People whose existence is disputed Female wartime cross-dressers Women in ancient Chinese warfare Women in medieval warfare Fictional female generals Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter Articles with Project Gutenberg links Articles containing traditional Chinese - language text Articles containing simplified Chinese - language text Articles containing Chinese - language text Interlanguage link template link number All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from May 2015 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Bân - lâm - gú Deutsch Español Français 客家 語 / Hak - kâ - ngî 한국어 Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית ქართული Македонски Монгол Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Suomi Svenska ไทย Українська Tiếng Việt 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 14 September 2017, at 14 : 34. 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Question: when did the story of mulan take place
Answer: the Southern and Northern Dynasties period (420–589)