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*Brief intro: Hi guys, I’m yanshifan and I’ll be the admin for the history section. I chose the story of Mulan as my first post because she’s a well known character yet not many people know a lot about the history behind her story, and even though Mulan is more of a legendary hero rather than a historical one, her story ties in deeply with the history of China and the culture. I’ll be posting every Monday and I’m open to suggestions for posts.

You’ve probably heard of the story of Mulan, most likely from the Disney adaption of it, but how much of it is true? Who was Mulan? The story of Mulan was first documented in “The Ballad of Mulan” which you can read the English adaption here, which was written during the Northern Wei dynasty(386 to 534) . The ballad stated that Mulan saw that her father was drafted for war, however, she didn’t have an older brother, only a younger brother and two sisters, so she decided to take her father’s place. After 12 years, she returned from war and the emperor wanted to give her a rank and riches but she said that she only wanted a fast horse to go home. She went home with her comrades from war and when she came out in female clothing, they were all surprised by her identity. The story of Mulan was adapted several times in history, the first being the “Musical Records of Old and New” and later the “Sui-Tang Romance” which was a dramatized story about the changing of dynasties. The actual last name of Mulan is also a subject that has been in debate over history, the names Zhu, Wei, Han, and Ren have all been brought to the debate, but the poetic last name Hua(lit. flower) has been the preferred one since the Qing Dynasty.

How accurate are the adaption?

The Disney adaption is obviously a dramatized version with singing and magical dragon. Besides following the general plot line of Mulan taking her father’s place in the army and returning home, doesn’t really incorporate the other aspects of the original ballad. The story incorporates a romantic element that wasn’t in the original ballad, but borrows this from the historical adaption “Sui-Tang Romance”.

The “Sui-Tang Romance” was one of the first literary adaption of Mulan and places her historically during the transition period between Sui and Tang. The “Sui-Tang Romance” includes a romantic plot line, but the ending for Mulan was tragic, ending in a suicide to sacrifice herself for the building of a new era.

Sources for pictures

http://a4.att.hudong.com/00/31/19300001322390132443317655468.jpg

http://i1.sinaimg.cn/ent/m/c/2009-12-08/U3587P28T3D2803263F326DT20091208213310.jpg

#history #chinese #chinese history #mulan #yanshifan

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Here’s my entry for the ancient series / wuxia voice meme. Please excuse me for sounding extremely awkward. And excuse my accented Chinese pronunciation. And excuse my bad singing. (I know Bu Bu Jing Xin isn’t wuxia, but it’s an ancient series.)

I also never really noticed how I sound in a recording until this. My voice is like an octave higher than usual, at least I think it is.

#voice meme #ancient series #wuxia #yanshifan