Cao Yu
Professor Emrys-Peron
English 1A
26 April 2022
Mu Lan in the Eastern and Western World
MuLan is one of the most well-known ancient legends in ancient China, and ballad of MuLan has beeb written in text books in middle schools since the story was passed by our ancesters. When I was a high school student, ballad of MuLan is one of the required readings that each student has to deliver; therefore, most of our senior students are acutely familiar with MuLan in China. Chinese people love her story because she represents the prominence of Xiao or Hsiao, which means filial piet. As a young woman, Mulan decides to personate herself as a man to serve in the army instead of her father. There is a movie version of MuLan made by Disney studio, which had largely influenced worldwide children,
comparing with the Chinese ballad because the animated English speaker Mulan fully illustrated the Chinese culture to the western world; therefore, the other fascinating topics arise. Western people evaluate Mulan extremely different from Eastern. People think that she is the new modern female hero because she mainly subverts the traditional women status in the society. The image that she created is the powerful and independent warrior, and no more cowardly wives or slaves, as well as the capable housewife who traditionally sits beside her husband all the time. Gender performance and attitude are two issues that we will mainly discuss in the essay.
Fa Mulan is the main character of the movie. All of the problems arise when her aged father is summoned to join the battle against invading Huns. Because of Chinese Hsiao virtue, Mulan secretly cuts her hair and takes his place in the army; fully aware that she may be sentenced to death under the Chinese ancient rigid military doctrine. Although Mulan looks like the male with her heavy armor, she has to learn the art of male performing – in order to be seen to appreciate it. Mulan undergoes grueling drills to build her body as “tough” and to change her psychical aspect to vigorous fearlessness. The ca
ptain of Mulan's military is Shang, the son of a general who is eventually killed by the Huns. Shang leads his army into the battle to fight against the Huns, but they are outnumbered. MuLan uses her intelligence and courage to save the Shang's troops and Shang's life. MuLan also gets injured in the war, revealing her female identity. Because of the traditional military law, she is ostracized and disgraced by Shang and left behind as the troops head for an imperial city. However, some of the Huns revive; they capture the king and drag him as a hostage into basilica. MuLan uses her ingenuity and courage again killed Hun, she is eventually directly saving the emperor's life and his kingdom. In the end of the story, Mulan get a great honor by being made a part of the king's council, and she finally returns home to her father.
From the film, Mulan disguises her identity as primarily a psychological issue because she wants to save her father’s life. According to the traditional Chinese military law, females cannot join the army. Mulan knows if his father goes to war, there is a small possibility for him to survive since his father is getting old and handicapped. In China, Hsiao, which means filial piety or filial responsibility, is the most significant and fundament
al rite because of the Confucian. “Given the central place of the family for the Confucian way, appropriate family feelings are that resource from which a pathway through life emerges” (Analects Chapter 1.2). It is essential to follow the older generation especially fathers who are considered as the master of the family, and behave 100% in the way fathers want their children to, even though it is wrong to go ahead. In addition, it is also a great honor for a younger generation to sacrifice to their family. It does not seem to make sense in western countries, but Confucian and Hsiao are deeply rooted inside Chinese culture DNA, which is another reason why Chinese holds the different perspectives of Mulan. I believe that Mulan still want to be a woman, according to her female behavior and attitude from the movie because another relevant fact is that she felt in love with Shang in the end.s1200
On the other side, as a young girl, Mulan is suffering from many problems in her life. IAt the beginning, she just likes to have fun and does not care what others say about her. She is not typical girly-girl since she likes to get down and becomes dirty when she needs to be. None of women or men agrees on this and it becomes a bigger problem than expe
cted. Although Mulan is only a young adult for her authorities, such as her family, the society, and herself to find a way to challenge her, some are easier to recognize than others. For instance, her family wants her to be the best in her life and the society does not want to be ashamed of her and she has challenged her own actions by always slacking off, not caring, and not forcing herself to become a better person. In the movie, the question of “Mulan,”gender roles is particularly prominent throughout the whole movie.
Women are always looked down upon in primitive history. There have always been rules that only a man can do this or only a woman can do that. Mulan is a young adult who has just started to grasp these little concepts. She has been misunderstood and mistreated by her family and her village. They do not agree with everything that Mulan does and it irritates them as well as Mulan. They do not think its right that she does not want to do what girls are doing. As soon as Mulan joins the army, she becomes more reliable compared to how she acted at home. Also, she is more confident in herself and she knows now that she can accomplish anything she is determined to. Towards the end of th
e movie, Mulan shows China that a girl is able to do anything a man can do. A girl can be just as strong as a boy. Also, a girl can accomplish just as much as a man can and even more sometimes, so Mulan is definitely a heroic figure.
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