Mulan Story and Info

Oil painting on silk, "Hua Mulan Goes to War"


Here are three translations of the original poem. Our version will probably combine all of these and the one from what we watched in class. Also is a link to an outline of the history of the story.

Hua Mulan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Traditional Chinese: 花木蘭
Simplified Chinese: 花木兰
Hanyu Pinyin: Huā Mùlán


Hua Mulan is a heroine who joined an all-male army, described in a famous Chinese poem known as the Ballad of Mulan. The poem was first written in the Musical Records of Old and New from the 6th century, the century before the founding of the Tang Dynasty; the original work no longer exists, and the original text of this poem comes from another work known as the Music Bureau Collection, an anthology of lyrics, songs, and poems, compiled by Guo Maoqian during the 12th century. The author explicitly mentions the Musical Records of Old and New as his source for the poem. Whether she was a historical person or whether the poem was an allegory has been debated for centuries—it is unknown whether the story has any factual basis.


In the story, Mulan disguised herself as a man to take her elderly father's place in the army. She was later offered a government post by the emperor himself after her service was up. However, unwilling to commit anymore to the forces, she turned down the position so she could return to her family immediately. When her former colleagues visited her at home, they were shocked to see her dressed as a woman. The poem ends with the image of a female hare (Mulan) and a male hare (her comrades) running side by side, and the narrator asking how anyone could tell them apart.
The time setting of the story is uncertain. The earliest accounts of the legend state that she lived during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534). However another version reports that Mulan was requested as a concubine by Emperor Yang of Sui China (reigned 604–617). Evidence from the extant poem suggests the earlier interpretation.
The poem is a ballad, meaning that the lines do not necessarily have equal numbers of syllables. The poem is mostly composed of five-character phrases, with just a few extending to seven or nine.
There are three uses of onomatopoeia in the poem. The sound of Mulan's weaving (or her lamentations) is 唧唧 jī-jī (i.e., "click-clack"); the Yellow River babbles 濺濺 jiān-jiān (i.e., "splish-splash") to her as she departs from it; at the military encampment the horses cry 啾啾 jiū-jiū (i.e., they whinny).
The story was expanded into a novel during the late Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). Over time, the story of Hua Mulan rose in notoriety as a folk tale among the Chinese people on the same level as the Butterfly Lovers. In 1998, Disney released an animated movie entitled Mulan very loosely based on the story.

The word mulan refers to the "Magnolia liliiflora". (mù by itself means "wood" and lán means "orchid".) The heroine of the poem is given many different family names in the various versions of her story. According to History of the Ming, her family name is Zhu, while the History of the Qing say it is Wei. The Ballad of Mulan doesn't give her family name. The Ming scholar Xu Wei offers yet another alternative when, in his play, he gives her the family name Huā (meaning "flower"). This latter name has become the most popular in recent years in part to its more poetic meaning. Her complete name is then 花木蘭, transcribed as Huā Mùlán in Pinyin and Hua1 Mu4-lan2 in Wade-Giles.
The Disney cartoon film popularised the version "Fa Mulan". This "Fa" pronunciation of 花 is found in various Chinese languages including Cantonese, while "Mulan" is the phonetic translation from Mandarin.


The Ballad of Mulan
Original Version in Traditional Chinese:
木蘭詩
唧唧復唧唧，木蘭當戶織，不聞機杼聲，惟聞女嘆息。
問女何所思，問女何所憶，女亦無所思，女亦無所憶。
昨夜見軍帖，可汗大點兵。軍書十二卷，卷卷有爺名。
阿爺無大兒，木蘭無長兄，願為市鞍馬，從此替爺徵。
東市買駿馬，西市買鞍貉，南市買轡頭，北市買長鞭。
旦辭爺娘去，暮至黃河邊。不聞爺娘喚女聲，但聞黃河流水鳴濺濺。
但辭黃河去，暮宿黑山頭。不聞爺娘喚女聲，但聞燕山胡騎鳴啾啾。
萬裡赴戎機，關山度若飛。朔氣傳金析，寒光照鐵衣。
將軍百戰死，壯士十年歸。歸來見天子，天子坐明堂。
策勛十二轉，賞賜百千強。可汗問所欲，木蘭不用尚書郎。
願馳千里足，送兒還故鄉。爺娘聞女來，出郭相扶將。
阿姊聞妹來，當戶理紅妝。小弟聞姊來，磨刀霍霍曏豬羊。
開我東閣門，坐我西閣床。脫我戰時袍，著我舊時裳。
當窗理雲鬢，對鏡貼花黃。出門看伙伴，伙伴皆驚惶。
同行十二年，不知木蘭是女郎！雄兔腳撲朔，雌兔眼迷離。
雙兔傍地走，安能辨我是雄雌。


The Ballad of Mulan
Our Translation


Click, click and click click click
By the doorway Mulan weaves.

When all at once, the shuttles cease,
A sigh is heard with solemn grief,
"Oh, my daughter, who is on your mind? Oh, my daughter. who is in your heart?"

"I have no one on my mind. I have no one in my heart."

"But last night I heard the battle roll. A roll consisting of twelve scrolls.
The Kahn is drafting an army of all, my father's name on each bead roll.
Alas, father has no grown son. Alas, Mulan has no elder brother.
But I will buy a saddle and a horse, and join the army in place of father."

In the East Market, she buys a steed.
In the West Market, she buys a saddle.
In the North market she buys a long whip.
From the South Market, she buys a bridal.

At dawn, she bids her family farewell.
At dusk, she camps at yellow river.
She no longer hears her parent's calling.
Upon her pillow, the waters whisper.

At dusk she arrives at Black Mountain.
She no longer hears her parent's calling, but [Army] horses wailing from Yen Mountain.
She gallops 10,000 miles for the war she has to honor.

She crosses lofty hills like an eagle soaring over.

From Northern gusts, through biting chills,
Echoes the watchman's clapper.

With wintery glow, of icy hue,
light glimmers on her armor.

Generals die in a hundred battles.
Our warrior is back!
How 10 years fly.

Upon her return, she is summoned to see the Emperor.
In the Hall of Light, she receives the highest honor.
She is awarded a promotion to top rank.
The Emperor bestows hundreds of thousands in prizes.
The Kahn asks what she desires.
"Mulan has no use for a Minister's post. Mulan has no other extravagant want. I wish to borrow a swift-footed mount, to take me back to my home."

When Father and Mother hear she's coming,
they watch buy the gate, bracing each other.
When Elder Sister hears she's coming, she runs to her room and dabs on rouge powder.
When Little Brother hears she’s coming, he whets his knife, flashing like a light, and prepares pig and sheep for dinner.

"Oh, let me push open the door to East chamber,"
"oh, let me sit on my bed in West recess"
"So swiftly comes off the armor worn in wartime, and silently, I put on my old-time dress,"
"Beside the window, I dress up my hair, in front of the mirror, I rouge my face."
And when I walk out to meet my compeers, they are perplexed and amazed."

"For 12 years we fought as comrades in arms, the Mulan we knew was not a lady of charm."

They say, to choose a hare, you pick them up by the ears.
There are telling signs to compare.
In the air, the male will kick and strike. While the female will stare with bleary eyes.
But, if both are set to the ground, and left to bounce in a flee,
Who will be so wise as to observe that the hare is a "he" or a "she"?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Mulan

http://www2.selu.edu/Academics/Faculty/elejeune/mulan.htm