Hua Mulan's enlistment in the army is a long-standing folklore, and this story, although it is written very clearly in the Northern Dynasty folk song Mulan Ci, the story of Hua Mulan may be longer than Mulan Ci. Therefore, Mulan has also become a folk idol.
If you look at it from a historical point of view, Mulan exists, but her story appears in a large number of interpretations and legends, and the records in the history are extremely rare, and even Mulan's surname is also extremely controversial. And the story of Mulan's father joining the army has also made many people feel confused.
If you look at a large number of legends and scattered historical records, Hua Mulan was active in the Northern Wei Dynasty and participated in the Northern Wei war against Rouran.
First, if from the background of this era, to confirm the authenticity of Mulan's surrogate father joining the army, then we need to see if there was such a possibility at that time.
The first is the issue of conscription, from Mulan Ci, it can be seen that the emperor's conscription is not to catch Zhuang Ding, but to recruit soldiers with official documents.
In ancient times, in addition to taxes, ordinary people also had to perform military service, and general military service could reduce part of the tax.
The difference between conscription and military service is that military service is only to maintain a conventional national defense force and is of a defensive nature. At this time, the service time will not be too long, and the state will generally draw three or five, and rarely affect production because of military service.
Conscription is basically a big battle, even a national war. According to the degree of the war, such as the Battle of Changping, the Qin State once recruited men over the age of fifteen into the battlefield. In Du Fu's poems, it is even exaggerated to arrest the old lady in the army.
Twelve volumes of imperial court documents show how anxious this conscription is, and such conscription will certainly not be as gentle as ordinary military service, but it is just not rough and strong. Officials at all levels will also have indicators, and in order to complete the indicators, the review process will be much looser. I don't even care if I am involved in the recruitment, as long as the number of people is enough to make a difference, then it will be OK. No one wants to make a difference.
Second, if the age problem can be interpreted as officials in order to complete the target, they confused Mulan to pass the pass, then how to explain the gender problem?
This problem, or good explanation, is that Mulan's physiological development, in a group of men, is not conspicuous.
This problem is not to smear Mulan, but in ancient times, different dynasties of adults will be different, the general age is 14-16 years old, but the Northern Dynasty is mostly a Hu regime, generally after the age of 12 can ride a horse to fight, if you can be inconspicuous in a group of men, can only show that Mulan was not fully developed at that time.
This is not difficult to understand, such as a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl, with a small flat head, wearing the same clothes as a boy, it is difficult to recognize.
It can be seen in Mulan's words that Mulan has a younger brother. After twelve years, her brother was already the main labor force in the family to analyze, at that time her brother may only be five or six years old, so it can be speculated that Mulan's military age should have just reached the age of Hu Ren's military service, that is, about 13 years old, and her brother may only be four or five years old.
If this explanation is more far-fetched, another story can also be explained from the side, that is, the emperor saw Mulan, knew that Mulan was a woman, and was very beautiful, wanted to accept her as a concubine, and was rejected by Mulan.
If Mulan really reached the age of development before joining the army, at least thirty years old at that time, the emperor might not be fascinated.
Third, then the problem comes again, even if girls develop late, they will develop, one year or two years can not see, ten years and eight years, how can it not be seen?
Mulan has been in the army for twelve years, and has not been discovered, there is only one explanation, when her body is obviously developed, she no longer needs to live with soldiers.
Is this possible reasonable? In fact, it is reasonable, the war is very cruel, will go everywhere, every day dead people, it is likely to lead to, yesterday is still a brother in the tent, the next day there is a life and death between the two, therefore, in the course of the battle, the attrition and flow is very large, and the possibility of fighting with Mulan is very small.
And just knowing the name, before it was too late to know, it became a cold corpse, which is too common. In such a tense war, how can people care about an ordinary soldier around them?
From the interpretation and a large number of wild history, literary and artistic works, as well as a small number of canonical history, it can be seen that Mulan is very capable of fighting, the ancient people pay attention to decapitation and meritorious service, then Mulan must be promoted quickly, when she grows into an officer, she will not live with soldiers.
A girl, sixteen or seventeen years old, will mature. At this time, Mulan may already be an officer, and has her own independent tent, which will not be disturbed. During the day, under the protection of heavy armor, it is also difficult to be found.
Some article records can also be seen that Mulan finally survived and was also awarded the rank of general, from a small child, after twelve years of conquest, he became a general. It can be seen that Mulan's combat effectiveness is strong, and this is sealed by the emperor after winning the battle.
Being able to meet the emperor after the triumph shows that Mulan already has a very high status in the army.
The above analysis can explain why Mulan has been in the army for twelve years, and no one has found out that she is a woman, although this possibility is unlikely, it can indeed be explained.