Nov 2003----Dec 2003-Jan 2004----Feb 2004----Mar 2004----Apr 2004----May 2004----Jun 2004----Jul 2004

People (August 2004)

The Person of the Month is Hua Mulan, a Chinese heroine. She is so famous that almost every Chinese knows her name and story. In the story, Mulan disguises herself as a man to serve in the army in her father's place. While serving, she is recognized as a courageous soldier and offered a government post. She turns down the position in favor of going home and living a peaceful life with her family. After she returns home, she puts back on her lady's clothes--and shocks her fellow soldiers, who didn't know she was a woman during the time on the battlefield. The story was expanded into a novel during the late Ming (AD 1368-1644) Dynasty.

No one knows for sure if there was really a girl named Hua Mulan joined the army in her father's place and fought for her country. There are several versions on her real name, where and when she was born. However, no one can deny the truth that women throughout history have disguised themselves as men so they could serve their countries.

Mulan is well-known as a female warrior, who is the symbol of brave, loyal, hard-working, and self-esteem in China. Her story has widely spreaded for more than one thousand years in Chinese history. The main contributor is a famous Chinese poem, called "Mulan Ci". Here's the link for Chinese version.

In July 1998, an animated Disney movie, called "Mulan", was released to the public. Even it was kind of American style, it attacted a lot of audiences and the critics gave it good comments. The promotional phrase for Disney's ad campaign for Mulan is "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all". There's no such a Chinese saying actually, but we do admire the characteristics of defeating adversity and optimistics of the future in Chinese culture. The pine, the bamboo, and the plum blossom are featured in a lot of Chinese artwork and are very symbolic. The pine and bamboo remain green when it snows and the plum blossom begins blooming when it's still winter. "Mulan" (magnolia) is not a flower in the trilogy, but it does bloom early in the spring, before the leaves form.

According to Disney's official website of Mulan, a 2-disc "Special Edition DVD" will be coming out on October 26, 2004.

There're several websites telling Mulan's story. Among them, the best one would be the Mulan FAQ. Another good one introduces the story in Chinese ( http://www.6mj.com/2003-12/2003124230312.htm).