View source for Hua Mulan

{{Short description|Legendary Chinese heroine}}
{{Redirect|Mulan}}
{{Family name hatnote|[[Hua (surname)|Hua]]|lang=Chinese}}{{Not to be confused with|Milan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Hua Mulan<br />{{nobold|{{lang|zh-hant|花木蘭}}  }}
| series = <!-- or |franchise=; use without the italic on the outside -->
| image = 畫麗珠萃秀 Gathering Gems of Beauty (梁木蘭) 2.jpg
| caption = Mulan as depicted in the album ''Gathering Gems of Beauty'' ({{lang|zh-hant|畫麗珠萃秀}}) ([[Qing dynasty]]; ca 18th century).
| first_major = Ballad of Mulan<!-- per [[MOS:MAJORWORK]] – major works include TV series, films, books, albums and games -->
| first_minor = <!-- or |first_issue=; Per [[MOS:MINORWORK]] – minor works include TV episodes, chapters, songs and game missions -->
| first_date = ca 6th century
| last_major = 
| last_minor = <!-- or |last_issue= -->
| last_date = 
| creator = <!-- only the credited creators; use adapted_by= for adaptations -->
| gender = Female
| occupation = Cavalry soldier<!-- or |position= -->
| origin = [[Northern Wei]]
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| title = Hua Mulan
| t = 花木蘭
| s = 花木兰
| h = Fa Muklan
| gan = Fa<sup>1</sup> Muk<sup>6</sup>-lan<sup>4</sup>
| p = Huā Mùlán
| w = Hua<sup>1</sup> Mu<sup>4</sup>-lan<sup>2</sup>
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|h|ua|1|-|m|u|4|.|l|an|2}}
| poj = Hoa Bo̍k-lân
| tl = Hua Bo̍k-lân
| j = Faa<sup>1</sup> Muk<sup>6</sup>-laan<sup>4</sup>
| y = Fāa Muhk-làahn
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|f|aa|1|-|m|uk|6|l|aan|4}}
| mc = Hwæ Muk-lan
| oc-bs = &ast;{{IPA|qʷʰˤra C.mˤok-k.rˤan}}
}}

'''Hua Mulan''' ({{zh|first=t|t=花木蘭|s=}}) is a legendary Chinese [[folk hero]]ine from the [[Northern and Southern dynasties]] era (4th to 6th century [[Common Era|AD]]) of Chinese history. [[Scholar|Scholars]] generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicted in the ''[[Wu Shuang Pu]]'' ({{lang|zh-hant|無雙譜}}, ''Table of Peerless Heroes'') by [[Jin Guliang]].{{fact|date=November 2023}}

==Overview==
According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as a man. In the story, after prolonged and distinguished military service against [[nomadic empires]] beyond the northern frontier, Mulan is honored by the emperor, but she declines a position of high office. She retires to her hometown, where she is reunited with her family and, much to the astonishment of her comrades, reveals herself as a woman.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

==First mentions==
The first known written record of Mulan is the '''''Ballad of Mulan''''',{{#tag:ref|Ballad of Mulan: {{zh|first=t|t=木蘭辭|s=木兰辞|p=Mùlán cí|w=Mu-lan tz'u}}|group=note}} a [[folk song]] believed to have been composed during the [[Northern Wei dynasty]] (386–535 AD) and included in an anthology of books and songs during the [[Southern Chen|Southern Chen dynasty]] (557–589 AD). While this anthology is itself lost, significant excerpts, including the Ballad of Mulan, survive in the Song dynasty anthology {{ill|Yuefu Shiji|zh|乐府诗集|ko|악부시집|ja|楽府詩集|italic=yes}} ({{zh|first=t|t=樂府詩集|s=}}).{{#tag:ref|{{Wikisourcelang-inline|zh|乐府诗集}}|group=note}} 

The historical setting of the ''Ballad of Mulan'' is usually the Northern Wei's military campaigns against the nomadic [[Rouran]]. A later adaptation has Mulan active around the founding of the [[Tang dynasty]] ({{circa|620 AD}}).<ref>{{Harvnb|Kwa|Idema|2010|p=12n}}</ref>

The story of Mulan was taken up in a number of later works, including the 17th-century work of historical fiction ''{{ill|Romance of Sui and Tang|zh|隋唐演義}}'',{{#tag:ref|''Romance of Sui and Tang'': {{zh|first=t|t=隋唐演義|s=隋唐演义|p=Suí Táng Yǎnyì|w=Sui T'ang Yen-i|labels=no}}|group=note}} and many screen and stage adaptations.{{citation needed |date=August 2025}}

==Sources==
[[File:Mulan, 18th century, ink and colors on silk.jpg|thumb|upright|Painting of Hua Mulan, 18th century, housed in the British Museum.]]
The ''[[s:Translation:Ballad of Mulan|Ballad of Mulan]]'' was first transcribed in the ''Musical Records of Old and New'',{{#tag:ref|''Musical Records of Old and New'': {{zh|first=t|t=古今樂錄|s=古今乐录|p=Gǔjīn Yuèlù|w=Ku-chin Yüeh-lu|labels=no}}|group=note}} a compilation of books and songs by the monk Zhijiang in the [[Southern Chen]] dynasty in the 6th century. The earliest extant text of the poem comes from an 11th- or 12th-century anthology known as the ''[[Music Bureau]] Collection'',{{#tag:ref|''[[Music Bureau]] Collection'': {{zh|first=t|t=樂府詩集|s=乐府诗集|p=Yuèfǔshījí|w=Yüeh-fu-shih-chi|labels=no}}|group=note}} whose author, [[Guo Maoqian]], explicitly mentions the ''Musical Records of Old and New'' as his source for the poem. As a [[ballad]], the lines do not necessarily have equal numbers of syllables. The poem consists of 31 [[couplet]]s and is mostly composed of five-character phrases, with a few extending to seven or nine.{{fact|date=November 2023}}

An adaptation by playwright [[Xu Wei]] (d. 1593) dramatized the tale as "The Female Mulan" {{#tag:ref|"The Female Mulan": {{zh|first=t|t=雌木蘭|s=雌木兰|p=Cí Mùlán|w=Tz'u Mu-lan|labels=no}}|group=note}} or, more fully, "The Heroine Mulan Goes to War in Her Father's Place",{{#tag:ref|"The Heroine Mulan Goes to War in Her Father's Place": {{zh|first=t|t=雌木蘭替父從軍|s=雌木兰替父从军|p=Cí Mùlán Tì Fù Cóngjūn|w=Tz'u Mu-lan T'i Fu Ts'ung-chün|labels=no}}|group=note}} in two acts.<ref name="Mulan5-xvii">{{Harvnb|Kwa|Idema|2010|p=xvii}}</ref>{{sfn |Huang |2006 |pp=67–68}} Later, the character of Mulan was incorporated into the ''Romance of Sui and Tang'', a novel written by Chu Renhuo ({{lang|zh-hant|褚人獲}}).<ref name="Mulan5-SuiTang">{{Harvnb|Kwa|Idema|2010|pp=xx–xxi, 119–20}}</ref>{{sfn |Huang |2006 |pp=120, 124–25}}

Over time, the story of Mulan rose in popularity as a folk tale among the Chinese people.{{fact|date=November 2023}}

===Name===
The heroine of the poem is given different family names in different versions of her story. The ''Musical Records of Old and New'' states Mulan's given name is not known and therefore implies Mulan is her surname.<ref name="Mu Yu"/> As the ''Ballad of Mulan'' is set in the Northern Wei dynasty when northern China was ruled by ethnic [[Xianbei]], a [[Proto-Mongols|proto-Mongolic]] people, there is some evidence that Mulan was not ethnic [[Han Chinese]] but Xianbei, who had exclusively [[Chinese compound surname|compound surnames]].<ref name="Mu Yu"/> Mulan may have been the [[Sinicization|sinified]] version of the Xianbei word "umran" which means prosperous.<ref name="Mu Yu"/>

According to later books such as ''Female Mulan'', her family name is [[Zhu (surname)|Zhu]] ({{zh|t=朱|labels=no}}), while the ''Romance of Sui and Tang'' says it is [[Wei (surname)|Wei]] ({{zh|t=魏|labels=no}}). The family name ''Hua'' ({{zh|c=花|p=Huā|l=flower|labels=no}}), which was introduced by [[Xu Wei]],<ref name="Mulan5-xvii"/> has become the most popular in recent years, in part because of its more poetic meaning and association with the given name "Mulan" ({{zh|t=木蘭|labels=no}}), which literally means "[[Magnolia liliiflora|magnolia]]".{{fact|date=November 2023}}

===Historicity===
Mulan's name is included in [[Yan Xiyuan]]'s ''[[One Hundred Beauties]]'', which describes a number of women from Chinese folklore. It is still unclear whether Mulan was a historical person or just a legend, as her name does not appear in ''Exemplary Women'', a collection of biographies of women who lived during [[Northern Wei| Northern Wei dynasty]].{{sfn |Mann |1997 |p=[https://archive.org/details/preciousrecordsw0000mann/page/208/mode/2up 208]}}

Although ''The Ballad of Mulan'' itself does not expressly indicate the [[Setting (narrative)|historical setting]], the story is commonly attributed to the Northern Wei dynasty due to geographic and cultural references in the ballad.<ref name="Mu Yu">(Chinese) [http://reader.epubee.com/books/mobile/df/dfcf06e22354ed004f01d198b6ba2dde/text00029.html 暮雨, "燕山胡骑鸣啾啾《木兰辞》背后的鲜卑汉化与柔然战争"] Accessed 2020-09-06</ref> The Northern Wei dynasty was founded by the [[Tuoba]] clan of ethnic [[Xianbei]] who united northern China in the 4th century AD ([[Conquest dynasty]]). The Tuoba Xianbei rulers were themselves nomads from the [[Mongolian-Manchurian grassland|northern steppes]] and became [[Sinicization|sinified]] as they ruled and settled in northern China.<ref name="Mu Yu"/> The Tuoba Xianbei took on the Chinese dynasty name "Wei", [[Change of Xianbei names to Han names|changed their own surname from "Tuoba" to "Yuan"]], and moved the capital from Pingcheng, modern-day [[Datong]], Shanxi in the northern periphery of [[China Proper|Imperial China]], to [[Luoyang]], south of the [[Yellow River]], in the [[Central Plain (China)|Central Plain]], the traditional heartland of China.<ref name="Mu Yu"/> The emperors of the Northern Wei were known both by the sacred Chinese title, "[[Son of Heaven]]", and by "[[Khagan]]", the title of the leader of nomadic kingdoms. ''The Ballad of Mulan'' refers to the sovereign by both titles. The Northern Wei also adopted the governing institutions of Imperial China, and the office of ''shangshulang'' ({{lang|zh-hant|尚書郎}}) the Khagan offered Mulan is a ministerial position within the [[Department of State Affairs|''shangshusheng'']] ({{lang|zh-hant|尚書省}}), the highest organ of executive power under the emperor.<ref>(Chinese) [http://www.jltzsly.com/a/jingquzixun/1106.html 赵贵全, "北魏兴亡与尔朱荣——北魏官制简介（尚书省）"2019-01-19] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026005015/http://www.jltzsly.com/a/jingquzixun/1106.html |date=26 October 2020 }}</ref> This offering indicates Mulan was trained in the martial arts and literary arts as she was capable of serving as a civilian official charged with issuing and interpreting written government orders.{{fact|date=November 2023}}

The Xianbei in China also retained certain nomadic traditions, and Xianbei women were typically skilled horseback riders.<ref name="Mu Yu"/> Another popular Northern Wei folk poem called "Li Bo's Younger Sister" praises Yong Rong, Li Bo's younger sister, for her riding and archery skills.<ref name="Mu Yu"/> ''The Ballad of Mulan'' may have reflected the gender roles and status of women in nomadic societies.<ref>[https://time.com/5881064/mulan-real-history/ Suyin Hayes, "The Controversial Origins of the Story Behind ''Mulan''", ''Time'' Sept. 4, 2020] accessed 2020-09-06</ref>

The Northern Wei was engaged in protracted military conflict with the nomadic [[Rouran]], who frequently raided the northern Chinese frontier to loot and pillage.<ref name="Mu Yu"/> Northern Wei emperors considered the Rouran to be uncivilized "[[Four Barbarians|barbarians]]" and called them ''Ruanruan'' ({{zh|蠕蠕}}) or "wriggling worms".<ref name="Gu Nong"/> According to the ''[[Book of Wei]]'', the dynasty's [[Twenty-Four Histories|official history]], [[Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei]] launched a military expedition in 429 against the Rouran by advancing on the Black Mountain and then extending northward to the Yanran Mountain.<ref name="Mu Yu"/> Both locations are cited in ''The Ballad''. The Black Mountain corresponds to Shahu Mountain ({{lang|zh-hant|殺虎山}}), located southeast of modern-day [[Hohhot]] in Inner Mongolia. Yan Mountain, the shorthand for Yanran Mountain ({{lang|zh-hant|燕然山}}), is now known as the [[Khangai Mountains]] of central [[Mongolia]].<ref name="Gu Nong">(Chinese) [http://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2019/0118/c404063-30575837.html 顾农 "两首《木兰诗》的异同" 《文汇报》] 2019-01-18</ref>

The Northern Wei sought to protect the frontier by establishing a string of frontier garrison commands across what is today Inner Mongolia.{{fact|date=November 2023}}

== ''Ballad of Mulan'' ==
{{stack|[[File:Dai fu chong jun.JPG|thumb|Mural of Hua Mulan enlisting; in the [[Dalongdong Baoan Temple]] in [[Taipei]], Taiwan.]]}}
Mulan sighs at her loom.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://people.wku.edu/haiwang.yuan/China/tales/mulan.htm |title=Mulan (Original Story) |translator-first=Yuan |translator-last=Haiwang |date=2005 |website=Western Kentucky University |access-date=January 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123185352/https://people.wku.edu/haiwang.yuan/China/tales/mulan.htm |archive-date=November 23, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://classicalpoets.org/2018/09/23/the-ballad-of-mulan-a-rhyming-translation/ |title='The Ballad of Mulan': A Rhyming Translation |translator-first=Evan |translator-last=Mantyk |date=September 23, 2018 |website=The Society of Classical Poets |access-date=January 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725013136/https://classicalpoets.org/2018/09/23/the-ballad-of-mulan-a-rhyming-translation/ |archive-date=July 25, 2019}}</ref> The [[Khagan]] is mobilizing the military, and her father is named in each of the conscription notices from the [[Son of Heaven|emperor]]. As the eldest child, she decides to take her father's place. She buys a fine horse from the eastern market, [[saddle]] and [[stirrup]] from the western market, [[bridle]] and [[reins]] from the southern market and a long [[whip]] from the northern market.

She bids farewell to her parents in the morning and leaves for the Black Mountain, encamping by the [[Yellow River]] in the evening, where she cannot hear the calls of her parents due to the rushing waters; only the sounds of the barbarians' cavalry in the Yan Mountains. She advances ten thousand ''[[Li (unit)|li]]'' to battle as if flying past the mountains. The sound of the sentry gong cuts through the cold night air, and the moonlight reflects off her metal armor. A hundred battles take place, and generals die.

After the ten-year campaign, the veterans return to meet the [[Son of Heaven]] ([[Mandate of Heaven]]), enthroned in the splendid palace, who confers promotions in rank and prizes of hundreds of thousands. He asks Mulan what she would like. Mulan turns down the high-ranking position of [[Department of State Affairs|''shangshulang'']] in the central government, and asks only for a speedy steed to take her home.

Her parents, upon hearing her return, welcome her outside their hometown. Her elder sister puts on her fine dress. Her younger brother sharpens the knife for the swine and sheep. Mulan returns to her room, changes from her tabard into her old clothes. She combs her hair by the window and, before the mirror, fastens golden yellow flowers. Her comrades are shocked to see her. For twelve years of their enlistment together, they hadn't realized that she was a woman. Mulan responds with:<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://moviepilot.com/posts/2826859|title=The Legendary Warrior that Inspired Disney's Mulan Is Pretty Badass|access-date=2016-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211233838/http://moviepilot.com/posts/2826859|archive-date=2016-12-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Columbia University|date=2002|title=China for Educators: Primary Sources: China: Ballad of Mulan|url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/|access-date=3 September 2020|website=China For Educators}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jack Yuan |date=2006 |title=Translation:Ballad of Mulan
|url=https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Ballad_of_Mulan |access-date=January 3, 2025 |website=Wikisource}}</ref>
{{Verse translation|The male hare has heavy front paws.
The female hare tends to squint.
But when the two hares run side by side,
How can you tell the female from the male?
|雄兔腳撲朔
雌兔眼迷離
雙兔傍地走
安能辨我是雄雌？}}

==''Romance of Sui and Tang''==
Chu Renhuo's {{ill|Romance of the Sui and Tang|zh|隋唐演義}} (c. 1675) provides additional backdrops and plot-twists.<ref name="Mulan5-SuiTang"/> Here, Mulan lives under the rule of [[Heshana Khan]] of the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]]. When the Khan agrees to wage war in alliance with the emergent Tang dynasty, which was poised to conquer all of China, Mulan's father Hua Hu ({{zh|c=花弧|link=no}}) fears he will be conscripted into military service since he only has two daughters and an infant son. Mulan crossdresses as a man and enlists in her father's stead. She is intercepted by the forces of the Xia king [[Dou Jiande]] and is brought under questioning by the king's warrior daughter Xianniang ({{zh|c=線娘|link=no}}), who tries to recruit Mulan as a man. Discovering Mulan to be a fellow female warrior, she is so delighted that they become [[blood brother|sworn sister]]s.{{sfn |Huang |2006 |pp=120, 124–25}}<ref>{{Gutenberg|no=23835 |name= Suei Tang Yan Yi|author=Ren-Huo Chu|bullet=none}}, Ch. 56 (第五十六回)</ref>

In the ''Sui Tang Romance'', Mulan comes to a tragic end, a "detail that cannot be found in any previous legends or stories associated Hua Mulan", and believed to have been [[Interpolation (manuscripts)|interpolated]] by the author Chu Renho.{{sfn |Huang |2006 |pp=120, 124–25}} Xianniang's father is vanquished after siding with the enemy of the Tang dynasty, and the two sworn sisters, with knives in their mouths, surrender themselves to be executed in the place of the condemned man. This act of filial piety wins a reprieve from [[Emperor Taizong of Tang]], and the imperial consort, who was birth-mother to the Emperor, bestows money to Mulan to provide for her parents, as well as wedding funds for the princess, who had confessed to having promised herself to general {{ill2|Luó Chéng|zh|罗成 (虚构人物)}} ({{zh|t=羅成|link=no}}).<ref>{{Gutenberg|no=23835 |name= Suei Tang Yan Yi|author=Ren-Huo Chu|bullet=none}}, Ch. 59 (第五十九回)</ref> In reality, Dou Jiande was executed, but in the novel he lives on as a monk.{{fact|date=November 2023}}

Mulan is given leave to journey back to her homeland, and once arrangements were made for Mulan's parents to relocate, it is expected that they will all be living in the princess's old capital of Leshou ({{zh|t=樂壽|link=no}}, modern [[Xian County]], Hebei). Mulan is devastated to discover her father has long died and her mother has remarried. According to the novel, Mulan's mother was surnamed Yuan (袁) and remarried a man named [[Wei (surname)|Wei]] (魏). Even worse, the Khan has summoned her to the palace to become his concubine.{{sfn |Huang |2006 |p=120}}

Rather than to suffer this fate, she dies by suicide. But before she dies, she entrusts an errand to her younger sister, Youlan ({{zh|c=又蘭|link=no}}), which was to deliver Xianniang's letter to her fiancé, Luó Chéng. This younger sister dresses as a man to make her delivery, but her disguise is discovered, and it arouses her recipient's amorous attention.<ref>{{Gutenberg|no=23835 |name= Suei Tang Yan Yi|author=Ren-Huo Chu|bullet=none}}, Ch. 60 (第六十回)</ref>

The Mulan character's suicide has been described as "baffling", since she is not in love or engaged to anyone.  Some commentators have explained this as an anti-[[Qing dynasty|Qing]] message: the author supposedly wanted to suggest that "even a half-Chinese woman would prefer death by her own hand to serving a foreign ruler".{{sfn |Huang |2006 |p=120}} In the novel, Mulan's mother was from the [[Central Plain (China)|Central Plain]] of China, but her father was from [[Hebei]] during the [[Northern Wei]] dynasty<ref>Ch. 56, "其父名弧，字乘之，拓拔魏河北人，为千夫长。续娶一妻袁氏，中原人。"</ref> and presumably of
Xianbei origin.{{sfn |Huang |2006 |p=120}}

==Modern adaptations==
[[File: Mulan statue in Xinxiang.jpg|upright|thumb|Statue of Mulan being welcomed home, in the city of [[Xinxiang]], China]]
The story of Hua Mulan has inspired a number of screen and stage adaptations.

===Stage===
*''[[Mulan Joins the Army (play)|Mulan Joins the Army]]'' (1917 play) starring [[Mei Lanfang]]
*''[[Mulan Jr.]]'', a one-act stage musical based on the 1998 Disney animated film ''Mulan''<!--This was probably released in 2005, but this needs verification-->
*''The Legend of Marissa Inouye'' (2013 dance production) by the [[Hong Kong Dance Company]]
*''The Ballad of Mulan" Red Dragonfly Productions, UK

===Films===
[[File:Mulan Joins the Army songbook.jpg|thumb|upright|''Mulan Joins the Army'' songbook, Hong Kong, early 1960s]]
*''[[Hua Mulan Joins the Army]]'' (1927 film) – a silent film released by [[Tianyi Film Company]] and directed by [[Li Pingqian]].
*''[[Mulan Joins the Army (1928 film)|Mulan Joins the Army]]'' (1928 film) – [[Mingxing Film Company]] production, directed by [[Hou Yao]]. The film was unsuccessful, in part due to the Tianyi film that was released the previous year.
*''[[Mulan Joins the Army (1939 film)|Mulan Joins the Army]]'' (1939 film) (original English title ''Hua Mu Lan''),  – Chinese film made during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], directed by [[Bu Wancang]] and written by [[Ouyang Yuqian]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hua Mu Lan 木蘭從軍 (1939) |url=https://chinesefilmclassics.sites.olt.ubc.ca/films/hua-mu-lan-%e6%9c%a8%e8%98%ad%e5%be%9e%e8%bb%8d-1937 |access-date=2021-02-27}}</ref> The film also created a large spark of popularity, in terms of literature.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Mulan&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1;,Mulan;,c0|title=Google Ngram Viewer|website=books.google.com|access-date=2017-04-20}}</ref>
*''Hua Mulan'' (1951 film) - [[Cantonese Opera|Yueju]] opera film starring [[Yam Kim-fai]]
*''New Mulan Joins the Army'' (1953 film) - [[Cantonese Opera|Yueju]] opera film starring [[Yu So-chow]]
*''Hua Mulan'' (1956 film) - [[Henan opera|Yuju]] opera film starring [[Chang Xiangyu]]
*''[[Lady General Hua Mu-lan]]'' (1964 film) – Hong Kong [[Huangmeixi]] opera film starring [[Ivy Ling Po|Ling Po]]
*''Mulan Joins the Army'' (1961 film) - [[Cantonese Opera|Yueju]] opera film starring [[Tang Bik-wan]]
*''New Mulan Joins the Army'' (1964 film) - [[Cantonese Opera|Yueju]] opera film starring [[Wong-Nui Fung|Fung Wong Nui]]
*''[[Saga of Mulan]]'' (1994 film) – Film adaptation of the Longjiangju [[chinese opera|xiqu opera]] based on the legend.
*''[[Mulan (1998 film)|Mulan]]'' (1998 film) – A Disney animated feature, and the basis of many derivative works by Disney. The [[Mulan (Disney character)|Mulan character]], named Fa Mulan, has appeared in other media and promotions, usually as part of the ''[[Disney Princess]]'' product line.
**''[[Mulan II]]'' (2004 film) – A direct-to-video animated sequel. 
**''[[Mulan (2020 film)|Mulan]]'' (2020 film) – A live action remake.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4566758/ |title=Mulan (2020) |date=27 March 2020 |publisher=IMDb |access-date=11 September 2020}}</ref>
*''[[Mulan (2009 film)|Mulan]], Rise of a Warrior'' (2009 film) – Chinese live action film.
* ''[[Matchless Mulan]]'' ({{lang|zh-hans|无双花木兰}}) (2020 film) – Chinese live action film.
* ''Mulan zhi Jinguo yinghao'' ({{lang|zh-hans|木兰之巾帼英豪}}) (2020 film) – Chinese live action film.
* ''Hua Mulan'' ({{lang|zh-hans|花木兰}}) (2020 film) – Chinese live action film starring Liu Chuxian ({{lang|zh-hans|刘楚玄}}) as the leading actress.
* ''Kung Fu Mulan'' ({{lang|zh-hans|木兰：横空出世}}) (2020 film) – Chinese CGI animation film.
* ''Mulan Legend'' ({{lang|zh-hans|花木兰之大漠营救}}) (2020 film) – Chinese live action film.
* The Legend of Mulan (1998 film) – Dutch animated film.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Legend of Mulan |date=1998-05-18 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180798/ |type=Animation, Action, Adventure |access-date=2023-06-04 |publisher=Django Studios Inc., Springboard Communications Inc., Denzel Film Investment}}</ref>

===Television series===
*''[[A Tough Side of a Lady]]'' (1998 series) – Hong Kong [[List of TVB series (1998)|TVB drama series]] of Mulan starring [[Mariane Chan]] as Hua Mulan.
*''Hua Mu Lan'' (1999 series) – Taiwan CTV period drama serial starring [[Anita Yuen]] as Hua Mulan.
* [[Jamie Chung]] portrays Mulan in the second, third and fifth seasons of the U.S. TV series ''[[Once Upon a Time (season 2)|Once Upon a Time]]'' (2012–2013), this iteration is loosely based on the Disney portrayal.<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Hibberd | first=James | title='Once Upon a Time' scoop: 'Hangover 2' actress cast as legendary warrior | url=https://ew.com/article/2012/07/05/once-upon-a-time-mulan/ | magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] | date=5 July 2012}}</ref>
*''Mu Lan'' ({{lang|zh-hant|巾幗大將軍}}) (2012) – China production with [[Elanne Kong]] starring as Mu Lan
*''The Legend of Hua Mulan'' ({{lang|zh-hant|花木蘭傳奇}}) (2013) – [[China Central Television|CCTV]] production starring [[Hou Meng Yao]], [[Dylan Kuo]], [[Liu De Kai]], [[Ray Lui]], [[Dai Chunrong]] and [[Angel Wang]]. It consists of forty-nine episodes.
*''Star of Tomorrow: Hua Mulan''  ({{lang|zh-hans|小戏骨：花木兰}})  (2015) – a [[Hunan TV]] children's program which features all-child casts performing classic Chinese tales, produced a two-part adaptation of Hua Mulan in 2017, based largely on the Disney film and featuring Chinese versions of well-known songs from ''Mulan'' and other Disney films.
*Mulan is portrayed in the Rooster Teeth web series RWBY as a young male named Lie Ren. All of the members of his team are based on legendary figures who dressed as the opposite sex in their stories

===Literature===
* [[Maxine Hong Kingston]] revisited Mulan's tale in her 1975 ''[[The Woman Warrior]]''. Kingston's version popularized the story in the West and may have led to the Disney animated feature adaptation.{{sfn |Kingston |1989 |p={{limited access}} 40–53}}
*''The Legend of Mu Lan: A Heroine of Ancient China''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.heroinesinhistory.com/mulan.html|title=Mulan|last=Hu|first=Eileen|website=heroinesinhistory.com|access-date=2016-09-30}}</ref> was the first English language picture book featuring the character Mulan published in the United States in 1992 by Victory Press.
*In the fantasy/alternate history novel ''[[Throne of Jade]]'' (2006), China's aerial corps is described as being composed of all female captains and their dragons due to the precedent set by the legendary woman warrior.
* [[Cameron Dokey]] created 'Wild Orchid' in 2009, a retelling of the ''Ballad of Mulan'' as part of the [[Once Upon A Time (novel series)|Once Upon A Time]] series of novels published by [[Simon Pulse]], an imprint of [[Simon & Schuster]].
*In the comics, ''[[Deadpool#Deadpool Killustrated|Deadpool Killustrated]]'' (2013), Hua Mulan, along with [[Natty Bumppo]] and [[Beowulf]], is brought together by [[Sherlock Holmes]] and [[Dr. Watson]] (using [[H. G. Wells]]'s time machine) to stop [[Deadpool]] from killing all beloved literary characters and destroying the literary universe.
*''Reflection'' by Elizabeth Lim was published in 2018 as an installment in Disney Press' Twisted Tales series. This is an alternate ending to the Disney film in which Mulan must travel to [[Diyu]], the Underworld, to save her captain.
*In ''The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan'' by [[Sherry Thomas]] (2019), Mulan has trained in the martial arts since childhood in preparation for a hereditary duel. When she goes to war in her father's stead, she is shocked to discover her team's captain is also her opponent in the duel.
*''Mulan: Before the Sword'', written by [[Grace Lin]] (2020) and published by Disney Press, is written as a prequel to the Disney live action movie released in the same year.

====Children's books====
*''Wuloom Family'' (episode 5) – in Chinese
*''The Ballad of Mulan'' by [[Song Nan Zhang]] (1998) – in English
*''I am Hua Mulan'', by [[Qin Wenjun]], illust. [[Yu Rong]] (2017)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://chinesebooksforyoungreaders.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/i-am-mulan/|title=33. I Am Mulan|date=2017-03-13|work=Chinese books for young readers|access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref> – in Chinese
*''Mulan: The Legend of the Woman Warrior'', by Faye-Lynn Wu, illustrated by [[Joy Ang]] (2019)

===Video games===
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' – Mulan is an optional party member in the Land of Dragons. Note that this is the Disney version of the character.
* ''[[Smite (video game)|Smite]]'' – Mulan is a playable character
* ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV]]'' – Mulan is an unlockable Legendary officer that can be added at the beginning of new scenarios in the game.
* ''[[Civilization VI]]'' – Mulan is a summonable hero in the Heroes and Legends game mode
* ''Goddess of Genesis'' – Mulan is a summonable hero through the game's [[Gacha game|gacha]] mechanism
* ''[[Mulan (video game)|Mulan]]'' – Mulan video game from 1998, based on the Disney iteration, playable on a [[Game Boy]].
* Mulan is a playable character in the Mobile/PC Game ''[[Rise of Kingdoms]]''.

==Tribute in astronomy==
The Hua Mulan crater on [[Venus]] is named for her.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Russell, Joel F. |author2=Schaber, Gerald G. | title = Named Venusian craters | journal = In Lunar and Planetary Inst., Twenty-Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference | date = March 1993 | page = 1219 | bibcode = 1993LPI....24.1219R}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/vc/vcinfo/?refnum=269|publisher=Lunar and Planetary Institute of the [[Universities Space Research Association]]|title=Venus Crater Database|access-date=2011-05-06}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|China|China/Categories}}
* {{Annotated link|Han E (warrior)|Han E}}
* {{Annotated link|List of women warriors in folklore}}
* {{Annotated link|Valentina Ramírez Avitia}}
* [[Wartime cross-dressers]]
* {{Annotated link|Women warriors in literature and culture|Women warriors}}
* {{Annotated link|Yuefu|''Yuefu''}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{Refbegin}}
<!-- {{Sfn|Huang|2006|p=}} -->
* {{cite book |last=Huang |first=Martin W. |title=Negotiating Masculinities in Late Imperial China |publisher=University of Hawai{{Okina}}i Press |publication-place=Honolulu |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4356-6553-8 |oclc=256489034}}
<!-- {{Sfn|Kingston|1989|p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last=Kingston |first=Maxine Hong |author-link=Maxine Hong Kingston |title=The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts |year=1989 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0-307-75933-7 |oclc=681617682}} {{link note|note={{limited access}} {{Internet Archive|id=womanwarriormem00king|name=The Woman Warrior}}, available only to patrons with print disabilities.}}
* {{cite book |last=Kwa |first=Shiamin |last2=Idema |first2=Wilt L. |author2-link=Wilt L. Idema |title=Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend with Related Texts |url={{GBurl |id=U8tgDwAAQBAJ}} |publisher=Hackett Pub. Co. |publication-place=Indianapolis |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-60384-465-9 |oclc=669127173 |via=Google Books preview}}
<!-- {{Sfn|Mann|1997|p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last=Mann |first=Susan |author-link=Susan L. Mann |title=Precious Records: Women in China's Long Eighteenth Century |publisher=Stanford University Press |publication-place=Stanford, CA |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8047-2744-0 |oclc=1392318837}} {{link note|note={{limited access}} {{Internet Archive|id=preciousrecordsw0000mann|name=Precious Records}}, available only to patrons with print disabilities.}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
<!-- {{Sfn|Dong|2011|p=}} -->
* {{Cite book |last=Dong |first=Lan |title=Mulan's Legend and Legacy in China and the United States |publisher=Temple University Press |publication-place=Philadelphia, PA, US |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-59213-972-9 |oclc=719383440 |jstor=j.ctt14btd0g}} 
<!-- {{Sfn|Rea|2021|p=}} -->
* {{Cite book |last=Rea |first=Christopher G. |author-link=Christopher G. Rea |chapter=Hua Mu Lan |title=Chinese Film Classics, 1922-1949 |publisher=Columbia University Press |publication-place=New York |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-231-54767-3 |oclc=1162603406 |jstor=10.7312/rea-18812 |doi=10.7312/rea-18812 |pages=176–97}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|wikt=no |commons=Hua Mulan |commonscat=yes |n=no |s=Translation:Ballad of Mulan |b=no |v=no |q=Mulan|d=Q743170}}
* [http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/china/mulan.pdf Ballad of Mulan] from Columbia University
* [http://www.mulanbook.com/ Information on the historical Mulan]
* [http://www.heroinesinhistory.com/mulan.html The Legend of Mulan: A Heroine of Ancient China], a bilingual Chinese/English children's picture book
* [http://www.yellowbridge.com/onlinelit/mulan.html Ode to Mulan] The original poem in Chinese and English side-by-side translation.
* [https://classicalpoets.org/2018/09/23/the-ballad-of-mulan-a-rhyming-translation/ 'The Ballad of Mulan': A Rhyming Translation], Translation by Evan Mantyk
* [https://chinesefilmclassics.sites.olt.ubc.ca/films/hua-mu-lan-%e6%9c%a8%e8%98%ad%e5%be%9e%e8%bb%8d-1937/ ''Hua Mu Lan'']—1939 film, directed by Richard Poh [Bu Wancang], with English subtitles
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070529115124/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3612/is_200307/ai_n9297242/pg_4 The female individual and the empire: A historicist approach to Mulan and Kingston's woman warrior]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020601195059/http://www.chinapage.com/mulan.html The poem in Chinese calligraphy (images), simplified characters, traditional characters, and an English translation]
* [http://zhongwen.com/mulan.htm The poem in printed Chinese, with hyperlinks to definitions and etymologies]
* [https://blogs.princeton.edu/cotsen/2024/06/mulan/ Who is Hua Mulan?, by Minjie Chen, Cotsen Children's Library, Princeton University, 10 June 2024]

{{Female wartime cross-dressers}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulan, Hua}}
[[Category:Hua Mulan| ]]
[[Category:Chinese poems]]
[[Category:Chinese warriors]]
[[Category:Fictional Chinese people in literature]]
[[Category:Fictional cross-dressers]]
[[Category:Fictional female generals]]
[[Category:Heroes in mythology and legend]]
[[Category:Legendary Chinese people]]
[[Category:Women in ancient Chinese warfare]]
[[Category:Women warriors]]
[[Category:Asian people whose existence is disputed]]