Warrior and Weaver: The Many Legends of Mulan

Mulan was a huge part of my childhood. I simply adored her and I remember reciting the ballad of Mulan to myself as I sat on my rocking horse. I was dumbstruck by the thought of there being a Disney film about Mulan and barely believed my eyes when I first saw the poster on the MTR.

Disney’s Mulan, however, was not the first cinematic adaption of her story from the ballad I knew. And it certainly wasn’t the last[1].

As I’ve said before, I’m not really one for definitive versions and am often fascinated by the deviations each iteration of a story chooses to make. So here a ramble through a few of the versions I’ve seen and a few thoughts on how they differ — and why they each have their own place in the canon of Hua Mulan.

Mulan (Disney, 1998)

There is little I can add to the discourse of Mulan.

Its prominence in the pop culture pantheon also means it is far more scrutinised. This is no bad thing, but the movie isn’t just problematic jokes told by Mushu[2] and dark-skinned aggressor tropes.

However flawed (and it is flawed), Mulan still stood as important source of inspiration. She was the first real warrior in the Disney panethon and that is still something of a scarcity. She even fought people, something that both Moana and Brave dodge. One by having angry coconuts and the other mostly by bear-on-bear action.

I still remember the review my twelve-year-old self wrote of Mulan when I first saw it. I was ambivalent about the fact the she wasn’t already a capable warrior the way I was used to from folktale. Her other siblings didn’t make the cut and she slunk off in secret instead of with the help of her father. She really only saw one battle; the Mulan I knew was at war for ten long years and only afterwards did she out herself.

But then, I also faulted Hercules for inaccuracies. I was not into the concept of the plurality of stories yet. I had still wanted a definitive Mulan at that age.

Yet despite myself, I slowly fell in love with the film. As went into my teen years, I appreciated Mulan’s arc more and more. The song Reflection articulated a lot of my own anxieties about who I was and who I should be growing up.

The Disney version casts a long shadow. It is still what many think of when it comes to Mulan.

Mulan as part of the Disney canon had a long afterlife with the dubious-direct-to-video sequel as well as a cameo in Princess Sofia and an appearance in Once Upon a Time. Her dolls are still everywhere and there is plenty fan fiction[3]. Her daughter is also in Disney’s Descendants.

Mulan 2 is a mess. The direct-to-video sequels of the 00s were generally of dubious quality, but this one just bites off more than it can chew when deciding to tackle arranged marriages in the name of peace treaties.

Once Upon a Time sees an ambiguously bisexual[4] Mulan who eventually joins Robin Hood’s Merry Men. She’s badass in the scenes when she does show up, but is notoriously shortchanged when it comes to plot.

A Tough Side of A Lady (Hong Kong TVB, 1998 series)

As one can probably tell from the poster, this was a New Year comedy[5]. Lots of silly jokes and sight gags.

The garment being held up next to Mulan is an ancient chinese “bra” incidentally. Well, not quite but that’s how Hong Kong pop culture parses it and that’s why it’s there. Comedy gold.

I watched this religiously every weeknight, wolfing down my dinner so that I would’t miss the opening credits.

Mulan weaves and holds together the family: bumbling father, shrewish mother, naive sister and weak brother. Mulan begins as an accomplished martial artist, defending her sister from being taken advantage of. Her sister is very feminine and this constrast is often played for comedic effect. It’s also notable that her younger brother is a grown man in this, but a scholar and hence unsuitable for war when the conscription arrives.

You may ask how her family still feature given Mulan goes to war and the only answer I can give is: shenanigans.

Also interesting is that there is a Shang-analogue character who begins as a heroic martially-accomplished manly character admired by Mulan. However, he soon proves to be an antagonist as he sees Mulan as a rival for his ascent in the the ranks. He is also contrasted against Mulan’s best friend who is an arrogant fast-talking trickster figure who is significantly less badass than Mulan. He is the one who learns of her secret, helps her behind the scenes and falls in love with her.

This choice between loving a “superior” and loving a “sidekick” becomes an enduring theme in Chinese productions of Mulan.

Hua Mu Lan (Taiwan CTV, 1999 series)

So, imagine Mushu not as a tiny dragon but as an exiled kitchen god.

This one is also a comedy and it is arguably even sillier than A Tough Side of a Lady. It also features the supernatural, with the kitchen god acting as Mulan’s goofy sidekick and confidant. The goddess of toilets is also among the supporting cast.

That love triangle shows up in this as the kitchen god entertains a crush on Mulan, but she loves a Shang-esque heroic figure. Unlike A Tough Side of a Lady, the sidekick does not earn her respect and love by feats of badassery. Instead, she ascends in the ranks and becomes her love interest’s equal both in martial accolades but also in skill and heroism.

Hua Mu Lan also features the classic plot point in any crossdressing story when the woman dressed as man has to then dress as a woman. Because everyone loves dramatic irony and transgressive-but-also-not sexual tension.

A recurring subplot in many of the more longform Mulan adaptions is the power-hungry Chinese prince who sells out his own country and collaborates with the enemy. It brings an edge of domestic politics into the mix and often arranged marriages will be thrown in as a complication. Mulan in this is ordered by royal decree to marry the deeply villainous crown prince (she gets out of it, of course), for example. These suplots coalese into quite concrete anti-war themes in Mulan: Rise of a Warrior (see below).

This is the first retelling I encountered where after the reveal Mulan serves openly as a woman in the army and is eventually made a general. This is another point that versions can vary on, the amount of military power she comes to hold, the point at which her secret is revealed and the impact that has on her career. The ballad is quite clear that she tells no one until she is retired and at home, but that does not make for high drama and it is understandable that pretty much ever version deviates from this arc.

And for everyone who says this is implausible, I raise you Milunka Savić.

Mulan: Rise of a Warrior (China, 2009)

This one is grim.

Whilst previous retellings of the her story used the military as a place where Mulan’s martial skills can be celebrated instead of scorned, in this war is simply hell. Despite being an excellent martial artist, none of this stands her in good stead in the middle of a battle.

Mulan: Rise of a Warrior has in its title its defining theme: what makes a good warrior? Other versions have celebrated Mulan’s smarts and skills, her honour and heroism, her trickery and quick wit.

But not this one. Mulan: Rise of a Warrior is about how Mulan is too emotionally weak for war. She is too easily moved, too compassionate, too protective of the lives of others. Her confidant and mentor, Wentai sees this as well as her potential so he fakes his own death in order to break her.

The death of her best friend (and love interest) destorys Mulan, sending her into a depressive spiral and unable to enact her duties. She obsesses about the dead and cannot take the field. One of her underlings confronts her about the immediacy of the war and how mourning would not prevent futher deaths. This rallies her.

After this moment in the crucible, Mulan is reforged into the best general there is.

But it is not fighting that ends the war. The final sacrifice Mulan makes is to urge the man she loves into an arranged marriage with the princess of the enemy. This is what ends the war.

This is worth watching, but it is heavy and I’m ambivalent if I entirely agree with its themes. Also, bring tissues. They may be shedding single perfect tears on the screen, but you will likely not have such self control.

The Story of Mulan 花木蘭傳奇 (China, CCTV 2013)

The ballad of Mulan starts with the onomatopoeic repetition of a shuttle going back and forth, but Mulan is not weaving. She is sighing about the summons to war that her father has recieved.

This single reference to weaving has become a core part of Mulan’s characterisation over the years in a lot of Chinese-made media. She’s the breadwinner of the family in A Tough Side of a Lady through her weaving skills, for example. I read this optimistically, less that the warrior heroine needs to be softened with feminine accomplishments and more that such things are not inherently and diametrically opposed[6]. The dichotomy that is so strikingly depicted by Disney in Mulan’s half reflection in her sword is rejected. War and martial acomplishments are not a refuge for a Mulan who has been rejected by femininity.

But The Story of Mulan takes this duality to its logical conclusion. Half the 48-episode series is set in the village of cloth production and is all about embroidery. The village is tasked to create an embroidered banner as a wedding gift for the marriage that will cement the alliance between their country and Rouran. And it is all about this banner.

I’m not joking. This is a Mulan series where half the episodes are all about needlework. This consequently also a version of Mulan with significant female characters and female friendships.

There is a contest in the village to find the most skilled embroiderer to helm the project and Mulan competes. The project is repeatedly sabotaged by Rouran forces. They want the failure of the embroidered banner to be their casus belli. It’s a strange paradigm shift but having not seen many dramas about embroidery, it was interesting stuff. Poisonous dyes and working against the clock. Secret designs and even more secret techniques. Intrigue abounds.

Deviating from the love interest be sidekick or superior, the Story of Mulan has the Prince of Rouran be smitten by her. He is in disguise during the first half of the series, posing as a horse trader and he falls in love then. He becomes increasingly skeptical of his country’s desire for war, but is ultimately unable to stop them. The latter half of the series gets a little syrupy as the two lament the war tearing them apart and being forced to fight their love.

This version also sticks out in my mind because it never sought to mine comedy from the crossdressing premise. In fact, Mulan has almost no trouble passing as male within the army. There is very little tension over her secret identity, with the plot instead focusing on the star crossed forbidden romance. Mulan trains aggressively, strapping rocks to herself and soon excels, but it is never about being male. She also finds other “weaklings” within the army to train with and shows them compassion. But in that her growth is not the plot, her abilty to succeed is also never in doubt.

Mulan is not a woman struggling with her identity. She is confident, capable and content with herself as she is. She knows she can move mountains and she will. I don’t fault for a moment other versions that centre their story of Mulan’s internal conflict but it also exhilarating to see her just be badass at everything. This was the version twelve-year-old me wanted to see.

But there are also negatives. There are a great many speeches about peace and patriotism. This often manifests with thick layer of Han-superiority over how they are just more civilised than everyone else. And whilst no one in the series is wholly evil and even the antagonists are presented with a degree of sympathy, the Rouran really do fit into that ubiquitous horse tribe barabarian trope that is getting really uncomfortable[7].

For those thinking to watch this, I do think it’s brilliant. But a word of warning: like all Chinese series (see my tentative recommendation of Ice Fantasy), this does feature the stylized/stilted acting and excessively rambling scenes. Things will be very slow. Also flashbacks. So many flashbacks.

[1] I wouldn’t credit Disney’s Mulan as being the only force at work to stimulate retellings of the legendary Hua Mulan, but it is quite noticeable that before 1998 there were not that many cinematic or tv treatments of her story. Two animated “mockbuster” films about Mulan came out in 1998, as well as two tv series shortly thereafter. I remember it being a glorious time.

[2] But seriously, a character named for a dish in Chinese takeout?!
That said, it does have a Chinese-only joke in Mulan’s name in disguise. Hua Ping (“flower vase”) is a term in Chinese for a woman who is seen as purely decorative. The proverbial Sexy Lamp. There’s probably a blogpost in talking about the different pseudonyms Mulan uses in different versions.

[3] I have a particular soft spot for one that takes out the wisecracking tiny dragon altogether. Also, Chinese dragons are water aligned, not fire.

[4] I think the writers actually confirmed in an interview she’s a lesbian in love with Aurora rather than loving both of her and Phillip. But the scenes are ambiguously shot and I do ship them as a triad, so I remain hopeful.

[5] For the uninitiated, this means that the plot suddenly goes really dark for about an episode and then the ending is joyous, bright red and wishes you a Happy Chinese New Year. Like Christmas specials.

[6] As someone who quite passionately loves both needlecraft and swords, this is quite important to me.

[7] They’re essentially noble savages. I’m sure I’ll rant about it properly another time, but Chinese historical dramas seek to create a continuity of civilisation. China is not founded, it is unified. So earlier countries and their identities are ret-conned into being stand-ins for China and their values, with opposing countries set as one from a set of standardised culturals foils (ie: horse lords and decadent merchants). All stories do this to some extent, we are bound by our own viewpoints, but it can get gratingly very handed.