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• 1 2021-11-15T16:02:46+00:00 Hua Mu Lan
  木蘭從軍 (1939) 266 plain 2026-02-02T19:31:31+00:00

  Live Action Feature Film
  Director: Bu Wancang卜萬蒼

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  LINKS TO THE FILM

  • Hua Mu Lan on Youtube with English subtitles on the Modern Chinese Cultural Studies channel.
  • An AI restored and colorized version of the film with Mandarin Chinese subtitles (this version is used in clips below).
  • A clip with no subtitles: This clip is briefly discussed in How To Read Chinese Drama, p. 161.

  INFORMATION

  • Title: Hua Mu Lan 木蘭從軍 (Alternative English Title: Mulan Joins the Army)
  • Year: 1939
  • Director: Bu Wancang/Richard Poh 卜萬蒼 (1903–1974)
  • Producer: Hwa Cheng Studio 華成製片廠
  • Cast: Chen Yunshang 陳雲裳 (1919-, as Hua Mulan), Mei Xi 梅熹 (1911-1983, as Liu Yuandu)
  • Music: Yan Gongshang 嚴工上 (1874-1953), Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩 (1889-1962)
  • Language: Chinese Mandarin
  • Duration: 89 minutes

  INTRODUCTION

  The black-and-white film Mulan Joins the Army 木蘭從軍, directed by Bu Wancang/Richard Poh 卜萬蒼, was produced by Hwa Cheng Studio 華成製片廠 in 1939. In 1937, Japan had begun a large-scale invasion of China and by 1939 occupied the French Concession of Shanghai where the Hwa Cheng Studio was located. At the time, the Shanghai film industry was neither willing to cooperate with the Japanese army nor was it able to openly defy it. The producer Zhang Shankun 張善琨 (1905-1957) came up with the idea of adapting the story of Mulan, a staple of Beijing opera performances, for a film. The script was written by Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽 予倩 (1889-1962), a famous Beijing opera performer of female roles (dan 旦), playwright and screenwriter for silent film. Accordingly, certain scenes, including the gender transformation scenes discussed below, echo the stylized forms of acting current in Beijing opera and silent film, while also reveling in and celebrating the artistry of acting and impersonation itself (Harris, "Modern Mulans," 314-17). Set during the Tang dynasty's conflict with Northern invaders, the story points the Northern steppe people of the Huns as a stand-in for the Japanese army.  The film’s subtle patriotic flavors are also reflected in the modification of the characters. The scenario adds several villains, especially an army advisor (junshi 軍師), who seeks power and wealth by betraying his country.
  

  PLOT SUMMARY

  The story takes place in the Tang Dynasty. When the war breaks out, the imperial court recruits soldiers and each household must send one male to the battlefield. Mulan's father, Hua Shirong is already old, and her younger brother is still too young to join any military expedition. Seeing the dilemma of her father, the eldest daughter Hua Mulan (played by Chen Yunshang 陳雲裳) decides to disguise herself as a man and join the army in lieu of her father over the objections of her mother, but with the support and the armor of her father. Over the next three years, Hua Mulan and her comrades eat and live together. While hiding her female identity, her service is as distinguished as that of her male peers, thus winning her male persona the trust of her comrades and generals. Among them, Hua Mulan and Liu Yuandu (played by Mei Xi 梅熹), a comrade-in-arms, build up a solid friendship. One day, when Mulan hears about the supposed imminent surrender of the enemy forces relayed by two Hun officers, she suspects that it is an ambush. She and Liu Yuandu, pretending to be siblings and disguised as camel trader and his sister, embark on a reconnaissance mission to determine the true location and size of the enemy forces. Once back in the home camp, Hua Mulan delivers a report on the true intentions of the enemy camp to mount an attack, and just before the commander is assassinated, he appoints Hua Mulan as the commander. It is at that point that Mulan leads the battle and successfully defeats the enemy forces. At the victory celebrations, Liu and Mulan sing a duet together, intimating their feelings for each other. When the two of them eventually return to Mulan's hometown, Mulan immediately changes back to women’s clothing much to the surprise of her former comrades. Even though Mulan has many marriage offers, she opts to be married to Liu Yuandu in a modern twist of female agency (Harris, "Modern Mulans," 318).

  VIDEO CLIPS: The Marking of Gender
  

  Mulan's father asks Mulan's mother to take out his military armor

  For the transformation scene, Mulan persuades her parents to allow her to go to the battlefield in place of her father. She promises that she will not regret it no matter how much hardship she has to face. Mulan’s father is glad and thus asks Mulan’s mother to take out his military armor.

  Click to expand/collapse Translation Notes

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Mulan dresses up with her father's military armor and play a set of routines with a spear

  The scene cuts to another shot (19:50-20:06): Mulan has already dressed up with her father’s military armor and starts to play a set of routines with a spear (qiangfa 槍法).
  

  
  
  
  
  
  Mulan plays a set of routines with a sword

  The shot cuts to another shot (20:06-20:46): Mulan starts to play a set of routines with a sword.
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  Mulan changes her voice

  Click to expand/collapse Translation Notes

   

  Chinese Subtitles	CTC Translation
  木兰：爸爸，您看怎么样？	Mulan (jauntily asks): Father, what do you think?
  木兰父：你看起来倒很像一个小伙子。可是你的嗓音……	Mulan’s father: You do look like a young man now, but your voice…
  Mulan’s mother (laughs out loud)
  木兰父：好了睡吧，明天再说。	Mulan’s father: Well, we should go to sleep and let’s talk about it tomorrow.
  木兰：呃……	Mulan (shakes and touches her throat, tries to lower her voice): Er…Er…
  木兰： 要把一生报家国 不妨短剑断离情 杀！	[It cuts to Mulan’s bedroom, and we see Mulan through her window. She is reciting a poem in deep voice when we hear the rooster crow (suggests Mulan has been practicing her new voice for a whole night without going to sleep). Then she happily shouts “Kill…” in a deep voice. It cuts back to Mulan’s parents who are standing in the living room.]
  木兰：花老将军、花老夫人，小将有事禀报。	Mulan: General Hua and Madam Hua, I have something to report.
  木兰父：啊，谁啊？请进来。	Mulan’s father: Ah, who is it? Please come in.
  木兰：小将花木兰，参见花老将军、花老夫人。	Mulan (wears armor and helmet, comes in and bows): I am young solider Huan Mulan and pay my respect to General Hua and Madam Hua.
  Mulan’s parents are laughing
  木兰：妈妈爸爸，我的嗓音像不像一个男人？	Mulan: Mother, father, does my voice sound like a man?
  木兰父：哈哈哈，像得很。	Mulan’s father: Hahaha (strokes his beard) it really does.
  木兰母：像倒是像了，可是我，总是舍不得。	Mulan’s mother: It sounds like a man, but I don’t want you to leave me.

  
  
  
  
  
  Mulan's transformation

  The transformation of Mulan from a young girl into a male warrior is accomplished with the help of change of dress and voice. At the end of the movie, Mulan returns to her hometown, accompanied by Liu Yuandu. The director uses a superimposition, an editing technique showing two images on the same film strip, to let audience see how Mulan changes from her military armor and helmet back into her feminine attire and hairstyle.

  
  
  
  
  
  Mulan introduces Liu Yuandu to her mother

  Click to expand/collapse Translation Notes

   

  Chinese Subtitles	CTC Translation
  木兰母：你瞧，真不知道有多少人来做媒。你看这么多的帖子，怎么办？	Mulan’s mother (comes in and holds bunch of matchmaking letters): Look, I don’t know how many people would like to make a match. Here are so many invitation letters. What should we do?
  木兰：我已经定了。	Mulan: I have already decided.
  木兰母：定了？什么样的人？	Mulan’s mother: Decided? Who is him?
  木兰：妈，您先听听他的声音，看行不行。（向窗外，用低沉的声音）刘元度！	Mulan: Mother, you can hear his voice first and see whether it works (lowers her voice) Liu Yuandu!
  刘元度：到！	Liu Yuandu: Yes!
  木兰：您听怎么样？	Mulan: How is his voice?
  木兰母：洪亮得很。	Mulan’s mother: It’s very powerful.
  木兰：我带您去看看他的模样。看使得使不得？	Mulan: Let me show you his appearance, and you can decide whether it works.
  木兰母：慢一点，我经不起你这一拉。	Mulan’s mother: Slow down. I cannot stand your pull.
  木兰：好，妈，孩儿知道了。（携母出，用女声喊）元度。（向其母）就是他。	Mulan: Ok, mother, I understand (comes back out with her mother, and uses her normal voice) Yuandu (to her mother) It’s him.
  Liu Yuandu turns back and looks at Mulan with surprise.
  木兰：各位请随便。	Mulan: Please enjoy yourselves.
  Mulan’s comrades are all shocked when they find out Mulan is a girl. Mulan runs away.

  WORKS CONSULTED CLICK TO EXPAND/COLLAPSE

  Rea, Christopher. “Hua Mu Lan (Mulan congjun 木蘭從軍).” In his Chinese Film Classics, 1922-1949. New York: Columbia University Press, 2021.

  Harris, Kristine. “Modern Mulan: Reimaging the Mulan Legend in Chinese Film, 1920s-60s.” In The New Woman International: Representations in Photography and Film from the 1870s through the 1960s, edited by Elizabeth Otto and Vanessa Rocco, 309-330. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2011.

  Ouyang Yuqian. “Mulan Joins the Army.” In Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend with Related Texts, ed. and trans. Shiamin Kwa and Wilt L. Idema. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2010.

   

   

  
  AUTHOR

  Gillian Yanzhuang Zhang