"Chirping and chirping, Mulan is weaving." Don't hear the sound of the machine, but hear the female sigh..." A Northern Dynasty folk song "Mulan Poem", the story of Mulan's father joining the army has been circulated for more than 1,000 years, and it is well-known in the north and south of the great river. There are countless film and television dramas based on Hua Mulan's surrogate father's military service. Even Disney in the United States made a series of animated films, the first of which grossed $300 million worldwide.
These days idle, searching for "Mulan Disney" on today's headline APP, revisiting the movie, as if it were back to 20 years ago:
"Mulan Poems" does not record Mulan's surname, place of origin and other information, according to the research data of later generations, we can piece together and infer her surname, place of origin and other information and life trajectory.
The Ming Dynasty literary scholar Xu Wei recorded in "Female Mulan Serving in the Army for Her Father": "Concubines with the surname Mulan, whose ancestors were in the Western Han Dynasty, lived in Wei County, Hebei Province. My father's name is Arc Character Sangzhi, he was a good martial artist in his life, and in the old days he was also a famous centurion. ”
From this record, we can see that Mulan's father's name is Hua Arc, the word Sangzhi, and he was a military attaché of a centurion. Mulan has lived in Wei County, Hebei For generations. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Hebei belonged to Jizhou and Youzhou, and was ruled by the Northern Wei. Therefore, Hua Mulan was a subject of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
The Northern Wei Dynasty was a regime established by the Xianbei tuoba jue. After the establishment of the regime, it has been facing the invasion of the nomadic Rouran people in the north. There are frequent wars in the border areas. This is the historical background of Mulan's surrogate father's military service.
During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the policy of Xianbei people serving as soldiers and Han People working as farmers was implemented. The Mulan family may belong to the Xianbei clan, so "the military book has twelve volumes, and the scrolls have the name of the grandfather." At that time, the state did not provide weapons and equipment for soldiers, and soldiers had to buy them at their own expense. This has the scene of "buying horses in the East Market, buying saddles in the West Market, buying the head of the South Market, and buying the long whip in the North Market" after Hua Mulan's surrogate father joined the army.
So, what year was Mulan's expedition? The Mulan Poems mention place names such as "Black Mountain" and "Yanshan Mountain", which coincides with the Battle of The Northern Wei Dynasty recorded in the Book of Wei. This shows that Mulan participated in the Battle of Northern Wei in 429.
After Mulan's triumphant return, she was received by Tianzi. In 429, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei was Emperor Taiwu of Wei. Tuoba Tao ascended the throne before he was 16 years old. He was smart and ambitious. At that time, the Ruoran clan repeatedly invaded from the south. Tuoba Tao was not afraid and resisted the attack of the Ruoran Clan. Later, Tuoba Tao turned from defense to attack, taking the initiative to attack Rouran 13 times, and finally subdued Rouran.
These historical facts are implicitly consistent with the plot of "Mulan Poems".
Tuoba Tao gave the conscripts a reward of money and an official position. Hua Mulan did not accept the official position, returned to her hometown, returned to her parents.
Later, what kind of story did Mulan have?
The "Shangqiu County Chronicle of the Daughters of Lie" records: "(Mulan) and return home, release their uniforms, and wear their old clothes." The companions were horrified, so they heard about the matter. Summoned to the Que, to take in the palaces. Mulan Yue: 'A subject has no courtesy to match the king', and he refuses to swear by death, and when he is forced to obey, he commits suicide. The emperor was shocked and posthumously awarded the general the title of 'filial piety'. ”
According to this record, Mulan returned home, took off her battle robe, and changed into her daughter's costume. The companions looked at it and were very surprised. This matter was passed on to ten, ten to a hundred, and gradually to the palace. After Tuoba Tao heard about it, he summoned Mulan to the palace again, hoping to take her as a concubine. For ordinary women, this is a great honor. However, Mulan resolutely refused, and forced herself to die and committed suicide. Tuoba Tao was extremely surprised, and posthumously named Hua Mulan a general and gave him the nickname "Filial Piety".
This is really a sad ending.
Successive dynasties have given Mulan a fairly high evaluation. The Tang Dynasty posthumously named Hua Mulan a "General of Filial Piety" and also set up an ancestral hall to mourn. During the Song Dynasty, the Mulan Ancestral Hall was established in Shangqiu, Henan, and a statue of Mulan was created. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Mulan Ancestral Hall built a stone stele of "The Portrait of General Xiaolie", which recorded the life deeds of Mulan. During the Qing Dynasty, the stele "The Ancestors of General Xiaolie distinguished the correct name" was built.
[References: Book of Wei, Mulan Poem, Shangqiu County Chronicle, etc.]