"Chirping and chirping, Mulan is a household weaver", I believe that this sentence is familiar to everyone, and even can't help but read it again, it comes from our middle school textbook, and it is the first sentence in the must-learn article "Mulan Ci". The story of Mulan's enlistment in the army for her father is what the old people like to tell their children. But what is the final outcome of this hero Mulan?
Hua Mulan, an ancient national heroine, is one of the 4 heroes of ancient Chinese legends, the other 3 are: Mu Guiying, Fan Lihua, and Liang Hongyu. However, these 3 were all married to good sons-in-law, and only Mulan could not find out her surname, place of origin, nor did she explain her ending.
According to historical records, Mulan first appeared in a narrative poem "Mulan Ci" during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), which is estimated to have been written in the Northern Wei (386-534) during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The monk Zhishang said in the "Ancient and Modern Music Record": "Mulan is unknown. It can be seen that when the character of "Mulan" appeared for the first time, everyone did not know her true identity.
At that time, the "Mulan Ci" was more than 300 words, and later after the Sui and Tang dynasty literati polished and revised, it was gradually detailed. Regarding her surname, there have been debates throughout the ages, some people say that her surname is Zhu, and some people say that she is the compound surname Mulan.
Xu Wei of the Ming Dynasty said in the "Four Voices ape" that she was surnamed Hua, named Mulan, her father Hua Arc (a said Zhu Wenlu) was a reserve officer, the eldest sister Hua Mulian, the younger brother Hua Xiong, the mother surname Yuan, a family of five, which is by far the most popular version of the statement.
During the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), after years of war, as the war expanded, the imperial court had to issue a rule that "every family must elect a male to participate in the war".
From the "Mulan Ci", we can know that Mulan has no brother, his father is old, his brother is still a child, and the officials of the imperial court have come to ask for someone, and Mulan resolutely chooses to "serve in the army for his father".
It wasn't until many years later, when the warriors won the victory and returned triumphantly, mulan, who had changed clothes and dressed up, came out and fought together for 12 years with her companions, that she knew that Mulan was a woman.
Seeing this, we can't help but wonder, how can a girl who eats and lives with a group of men for 12 years, bathes, and goes to the toilet, which is something that has to be done every day, not be discovered for 12 years? Was this story made up?
"Mulan Ci" was originally just a folk song, which was passed on by the people by word of mouth, but the folk songs were often taken from reality in order to be accepted by the majority of the people. See the last paragraph "Return to see the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven sits in the Ming Hall." Twelve turns of the strategy, reward a hundred thousand strong", Mulan returned victoriously, and the emperor gave her many rewards.
What common man would dare to invent what the emperor did? That is to beheaded, from which we can also infer that there was indeed a Mulan in history.
At the end of the "Mulan Ci", it is written that Mulan did not want to be an official in the imperial court, and chose to restore her daughter to return to her hometown, and the emperor also granted her choice, not only did not give her a false military to surrender, but also gave her a great reward, which shows that Mulan had a certain status in the eyes of the emperor at that time.
Therefore, in later generations, the emperor named Mulan a concubine and let her enjoy the glory and wealth; some people said that after Mulan returned to her hometown, she found the man she loved when she was a child, and the two married. In any case, everyone gave Mulan a happy ending, which shows the high status of Mulan in the hearts of the Chinese people.
Now, Yucheng County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province, has been named "the hometown of China's Mulan" by the China Folk Artists Association, which seems to represent everyone's acceptance of Mulan's statement that Mulan is a native of Shangqiu City, Henan. There is some credibility to this claim.
Xu Peng pointed out in his 1962 article "Mulan Poems": "Regarding Mulan's surname and place of origin... Some people say that she is from Chen county, some people say that she is from Songzhou, some people say that she is from Huangzhou, and some people say that she is from Shangqiu. According to historical records, whether it is Yu County, Song Prefecture or Shangqiu, it refers to the place of Xiaoweizhuang in Zhouzhuang Village, Yingkuo Town, Yucheng County.