Chinese Idioms and Proverbs
What if swords in Mulan 2020 had actual Chinese sayings instead of “loyal, brave, true” as engravings.
1. Hua Mulan:
日久见人心 (rì jiǔ jiàn rén xīn)
This is actually just the second half of the proverb "路遥知马力，日久见人心", which translates to “distance tests a horse’s strength, time reveals a person’s character”. I’m only taking the second half for simplicity’s sake. Besides, 日久见人心 on its own manages to cover the meaning & intention behind the whole saying in my opinion.
日久见人心 (“time reveals one’s heart”) beautifully encompasses Mulan’s story of disguising as a man in place of her father to go to war solely out of love for her father, all while proving her capabilities along the way and coming to slowly accept & embrace her truest expression of her self, making this saying more than worthy to be engraved onto Mulan's new sword.
2. Hua Zhou:
逆境出人才 (nì jìng chū rén cái)
逆境出人才 has the meaning of “adversary breeds talent/flair”. This saying could reflect in some way Hua Zhou’s adamant attitude when faced with life’s situations/decisions, e.g. insisting he must serve the army even though he’s frail & had done his part before. (I like to speculate his stubborn determination was the reason he managed to accomplish much & got far as a soldier during his prime, therefore earning his sword engravings and becoming highly-regarded in the military.)
However, I chose this proverb not as much because I think it would be suitable for Hua Zhou’s character, but rather for how it will affect Mulan’s journey in her training to become a soldier when she took her father’s sword to war. (It’s the sword with the most screen time, by the way.) The engravings would serve as a reminder as well as an encouragement for her to strive to be the best warrior she could be.
As Mulan develops as a person, the old "逆境出人才" nicely transitions into the new "日久见人心" in poetic fashion. Plus, both would go along neatly with the “pattern” of five-character sword engravings running through the Hua family, in this case.
3. Commander Tung:
否极泰来 (pǐ jí tài lái)
For Commander Tung, 否极泰来 (meaning “peace comes after extreme evil”) would sound really cool & badass for a general like him (one who’s played by Donnie Yen no less) to the point where I feel like he would totally own it on the battlefield without a question.
4. Sergeant Qiang:
惩前毖后 (chéng qián bì hòu)
Remember that second-in-command who’s strict and uptight about Mulan & her comrades’ performance and was given the “we’ll make a man out of every single one of you” line? I did.
惩前毖后 (literally “punish first, prevent later”) has the meaning of criticizing or learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones and preventing them from happening again. Very fitting for Sergeant Qiang’s personality, and it gives extra insight into why he acted so strictly towards the new recruits.
5. The Emperor:
尽忠报国 (jìn zhōng bào guó)
You may recognize this saying because it was popularized by Chinese folk hero & semi-historical figure Yue Fei (similar to Mulan). As you can tell, 尽忠报国 has everything to do with “loyal devotion to your country”.
While such an engraving is befitting of an emperor’s sword, I think it would be hilarious seeing the other main characters having sword engravings that have their own poetic/badass meanings whereas the Emperor’s is probably the most basic shit you could put on a sword.
6. Chen Honghui:
知音难觅 (zhī yīn nán mì)
Considering Chen Honghui’s role in Mulan’s journey, I think 知音难觅 would make a unique sword engraving for him since this idiom is one that’s about friendship.
The idiom means “an intimate friend is hard to find”, and seeing that Honghui had been nothing but an ally of Mulan through and through, there’s no other saying best encompassing his character. Since he’s staying in the military, I like to believe he would go on to become a leader that’s known to be supportive, encouraging & even caring not only to his peers but also his juniors as well.
Tagging @delphiniumblooms :)