Wonder Woman of the Week: Hua Mulan

Hua Mulan has become a legendary character of Chinese (and recently Disney) storytelling, but the culture hero is actually a historical figure from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period of China. Like legendary figures from early Medieval Nordic history, accounts of Mulan's life did not appear until a thousand years after her death. That means there was plenty of time for romanticising her life, but the deciphered true story of the woman warrior is incredible on its own. Although some of the possibilities of changes to the story include the character's name. Mulan is a word in Chinese that refers to Mongolia and was likely a nickname. Secondly, Hua was only one of several suggested family names for the figure- meaning historians today still do not really know what the woman's real name was. Hence, Mulan is largely comparable to Robin Hood of British folklore.

According to the original written accounts about Hua Mulan, Mulan was born during the Northern Wei era (386-536). When Rouran (a Mongolian tribe) invaders began raiding Northern China, the Chinese military raised a levy requiring one man from every family to serve in the army to defend China. Mulan masqueraded as a man to represent her family in the levy and fought for twelve years against Rouran invaders. Not only was she a skilled at the sword, bow, and hand-to-hand combat, she also rose through the ranks to lead her own soldiers in battle. Mulan managed to maintain her secret identity throughout the war and returned to her family after twelve years of war after revealing her identity to her fellow victorious soldiers.

Since the first poem about Hua Mulan, several romanticised versions of the figures life appeared throughout China. Mulan became a culture hero of Chinese history; inspiring poems, books, plays, operas, and movies. The warrior's story remained largely isolated to China however as most European world historians dismissed the soldier's story as folklore. Following the 1998 Disney Mulan film however, world audiences learned about the character and an entire generation of historians began to question if the character may have actually existed. Historians around the world continue to debate whether Hua Mulan was a real person with Chinese historians leading the fight to add the character to the history books.