(Relatively) Historically Accurate Mulan I | Character Reimagined Yi-Guan 人物·衣冠 木蘭
A re-imagined Mulan (花木蘭) in a relatively, historically accurate fashion from the Luoyang-era of the Northern Wei dynasty, inspired by the 1998 Disney film.
First, I’d like to introduce the term, hong-zhuang (紅妝), because many folks had mistaken Mulan’s matchmaking style as a Geisha’s attire since the release of the 1998 film.
Brief Historical Context
Northern Wei dynasty (386-545) took place during several centuries of divisions in Chinese history. N. Wei was a multi-ethnic state founded and ruled by the Tuoba clan of the Xianbei people (拓跋鲜卑). There was also a significant Han Chinese population, especially in the south of the state, such as near the southern, third capital, Luoyang in late 5th century. Perhaps due to the impacts of frequent cycles of disintegration-unification, as well as the lengthy division between North and South, war were common during this time. Such historic context laid the bedrock for the Ballad of Mulan, and it was implied in the poem or folk song that the decade-long war was bloody and sorrowful. In 500s AD, due to political & cultural complications, N. Wei was eventually split into Eastern Wei / Northern Qi and Western Wei / Northern Zhou.
Historical Accuracy & Mulan’s Yi-Guan 衣冠 (lit. clothing-headwear)
I can only do an approximately accurate render due to this complex historical context and related research difficulties, such as the contesting backgrounds of Mulan, and the lack of legible visual evidences from the N. Wei dynasty.
Particularly, by examining the locations mentioned in the Ballad of Mulan and historical records, many research I read suggests that the war mentioned actually took place in the earlier years of N. Wei dynasty. Since there was a drastic cultural-political shift in late N. Wei (late 5th century), the actual yi-guan attire from the earlier era might look different from my render of Late Northern Wei fashion.
In my render, Mulan’s garment and hairstyle is based on actual Northern Wei figurines (above left).
Since most N. Wei artworks I found online has faded colour around the facial features, Mulan’s hong-zhuang makeup is inspired by the arts of Western Wei and Northern Qi dynasties, aka. the two different continuations of the divided Northern Wei. (see above right)
About Yi-Guan Style
The above collage shows artworks from both Northern & Southern dynasties of the same century.
The yi-guan style of Mulan consists of two main parts: layers of top robes + a long skirt. This style known as yichang 衣裳 or ruqun 襦裙 (lit. tops & skirt), can be seen in the arts of several preceding dynasties, from Eastern Han dyansty to Jin dynasties.
Since this particular variation of yichang has appeared in the arts of both N. & S dynasties, Mulan’s N. Wei style is likely a hybrid of Xianbei culture, Han culture, and foreign (Central Asian) influences.
Furthermore, there are many visual evidences that show heavy Sasanian-Iranian and Sogdian influence on the material culture and arts of Northern Wei: a politically troubled yet culturally vibrant era. (an example below)
Thank you for reading this post. Please stayed tuned for the future development of this series: Character Reimagined Yi-Guan.
Image usage & credit: please see the bottom of each individual image - Illustration and text by Eric Chengyang 墨月無觴
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Additional note: Mulan’s makeup and facial expression
Thank you to fate-magical-girls for pointing out in the comments, that Mulan’s frowning brows in the render resemble ti-zhuang (啼妝) or lit. the “weeping-makeup”, a type of makeup style mentioned in the Book of the Later Han. Just to clarify, this render of Mulan was primarily based on the Reflection scenes from the Disney film, and so Mulan’s expression is NOT a part of the makeup, but an actual emotion inspired by the plot.
