The Ballad of Mulan (6th Century)“The Ballad of Mulan,” a 330-word poem about a woman posing as a man to enlist in the military in place of her ailing father, is dated sometime between Wei of the Northern dynasties (386-534) and the Tang dynasty (618-907). Scholars and historians have not been able to settle on its origins or settings. Given that no archaeological evidence corroborates Hua Mulan’s existence, her story may well be folklore.[...]This is the big surprise facing the reader who comes to the actual Ballad of Mulan from the Disney version: it is incredibly spare. The second is that it is not a martial tale but an anti-war one. The third, and most disturbing, is that, if there was a historical Mulan, she was-in the apt formulation of one essayist- more Hun than Han. All this leads to plenty of disagreement about the various iterations of the ballad, which we can maybe avoid by going to the source. Here’s one translation for your perusal: The Ballad of Mulan (Asia for Educators l Columbia University, From The Flowering Plum and the Palace Lady: Interpretations of Chinese Poetry, by Han H. Frankel) (Reviewed:) Grade: (A) Tweet Websites:-WIKIPEDIA: Hua Mulan -ENTRY: Hua Mulan: legendary figure (Frannie Comstock, Britannica Editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica) -ENTRY: The Ballad of Mulan (Global Chinese Culture (April 13, 2025) -VIDEO INDEX: “ballad of mulan” (YouTube) -TEXT: The Ballad of Mulan (Asia for Educators l Columbia University, From The Flowering Plum and the Palace Lady: Interpretations of Chinese Poetry, by Han H. Frankel) -TEXT: ‘The Ballad of Mulan’: A Rhyming Translation (Translation by Evan Mantyk, September 23, 2018, Society of Classical Poets) -VIDEO: The Ballad of Mulan (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Feb 1, 2022, created by the RCS Confucius Classroom Specialist Hub -TEXT: The Ballad of Mulan (Arthur Waley, Chinese Poems) - -PODCAST: The True Story of Mulan (For the Love of History, 3/18/23) -PODCAST: 194-Mulan: The Warrior (Myths and Legends) -PODCAST: 4-Mulan: A Likely Hero (Myths and Legends) - -ESSAY: Reading the Original Ballad of Mulan (Fairypage, May 07, 2020) -ESSAY: Getting To Know The Real Mulan: Preserving Her Story The Way It Was Meant To Be Told (The Fem Word, 4/26/22) -ESSAY: Mulan: The Legend Through History (Joshua J. Mark, 07 September 2020, World History) -ESSAY: The Real Story of Mulan (China Highlights) -ESSAY: More Hun than Han: Reading the Tabghach “Ballad of Mulan” in 2020 (James Millward, 09/17/2020, Asia Now) -ESSAY: The live-action ‘Mulan’ is not the first retelling of the legend. Or the second. Or the sixth. (Martin Tsai, 9/04/20, Washington Post) “The Ballad of Mulan,” a 330-word poem about a woman posing as a man to enlist in the military in place of her ailing father, is dated sometime between Wei of the Northern dynasties (386-534) and the Tang dynasty (618-907). Scholars and historians have not been able to settle on its origins or settings. Given that no archaeological evidence corroborates Hua Mulan’s existence, her story may well be folklore. -ESSAY: You Might’ve Saved the World, but That Doesn’t Mean You Saved Everyone: Analysis of The Fallen Sakura, a Ballad of Fa Mulan Retelling (Helen Luo, WR Journal) -ESSAY: The Evolution of The Ballad of Mulan (Mari Ness, September 3, 2020, ReacTor) - FILM: - -OFFICIAL SITE: Mulan (1998) (Disney.com) -OFFICIAL SITE: Mulan (Disney Princesses) -WIKI: Mulan (Disney Princess Wiki) -WIKIPEDIA: Mulan (Disney character) -WIKIPEDIA: Mulan (1998 film) -FILMOGRAPHY: Mulan (1998) (IMDB) -FILMOGRAPHY: Mulan (1998) (Rotten Tomatoes) -FILMOGRAPHY: Mulan (1988) (Metacritic) -FILMOGRAPHY: Mulan (1998) (Letterboxd) -INDEX: Mulan (Den of Geek) -ENTRY: Mulan (1998) (Encyclopedia.com) -INDEX: Mulan (TV Tropes) -INDEX: Mulan (MOvieWeb) -INDEX: Mulan (1998) (IGN) - -WIKIPEDIA: Mulan II -FILMOGRAPHY: Mulan II (2004) (Rotten Tomatoes) - - - - -OFFICIAL SITE: Mulan (2020) (Disney.com) -WIKIPEDIA: Mulan (2020 film) - - -FILMOGRAPHY: Mulan (2020) (IMDB) -FILMOGRAPHY: Mulan (2020) (Rotten Tomatoes) -FILMOGRAPHY: Mulan (2020) (MetaCritic) - -ESSAY: The Controversial Origins of the Story Behind Mulan (Suyin Haynes, Sep 4, 2020, TIME) -ESSAY: ‘Mulan’ 1998: A Moment of Joy and Anxiety for Asian-American Viewers: Though the original Disney movie was culturally significant, it came out in a film era when people of color were routinely tokenized. (Brian X. Chen, Sept. 4, 202, NY Times) -ESSAY: ‘Mulan’ Is Still My Problematic Fave (Nicole Clark, June 7, 2018, Vice) -ESSAY: Why Calls to Boycott ‘Mulan’ Over Concerns About China Are Growing: The latest backlash over Disney’s remake of the movie centers on how it was partly filmed in Xinjiang, where Uighurs live under repression. (Amy Qin and Edward Wong, Sept. 8, 2020, NY Times) - -REVIEW: Mulan (Roger Ebert, June 19, 1998) -REVIEW: Parents' Guide to Mulan (Betsy Wallace, Common Sense Media Review) -REVIEW: Revisiting Disney: Mulan (1998) (That Old Picture Show) -REVIEW: of Mulan (1998) (Daniel Mumby, November 25, 2013, Mumby at the Movies) -REVIEW: Remembering “Mulan” (Jim Kokes, 8/26/22, Cartoon Research) -REVIEW: of Mulan (Ian Freer, 1st January 2000, Empire) -REVIEW: of Mulan (Peter Travers, June 19, 1998, Rolling Stone) -REVIEW: of -REVIEW: of Mulan (2020) (Christy Lemire, September 3, 2020, RogerEbert) -REVIEW: The Question That Mulan Doesn’t Ask: Disney’s live-action remake about a young woman warrior goes heavy on gravitas, at the expense of playful interiority. (David Sims, September 4, 2020, The Atlantic) -REVIEW: ‘Mulan’ is uncritical of China—and unmemorable (Kevin Christopher Robles, September 11, 2020, America) -REVIEW: Let’s Talk About the Movie Mulan — What Went Wrong?: Things you might want to know before entering the cinema (Christie Li, Sep 23, 2020, The Bigger Picture) -REVIEW: Emotional, Beautifully Shot, and Enjoyable is Disney’s ‘Mulan’ (Black Girl Nerds, September 4, 2020) -REVIEW: of ‘Mulan’ Review: Disney’s Live-Action Remake Is A Sweeping And Entertaining Ode To Empowerment And The Human Spirit (Pete Hammond, September 3, 2020, Deadline) -REVIEW: ‘Mulan’ Review: An Animated Classic Revived For the Superhero Age (Matt Singer, September 3, 2020, ScreenCrush) -REVIEW: ‘Mulan’ Review: Disney’s Spectacular Do-Over Deserves the Biggest Screen Possible (Peter Debruge, September 3, 2020, Variety) -REVIEW: of -REVIEW: Parents' Guide to Mulan (2020) (Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Review) -PODCAST: Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation (Sean Fennessey, 9/09/2020, The Ringer: Big Picture) -REVIEW: ‘Mulan’ Is Radical, but Only by Default: Disney’s decision to release its live-action remake on its streaming platform could have paradigm-shifting consequences. It’s a shame, then, that the movie couldn’t be as revolutionary. (Manuela Lazic, Sept. 8, 2020, The Ringer) Book-related and General Links: |
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