Mulan Annotated #8 - The Final Boss
Now weāre here! This is most likely the penultimate post of Mulan Annotated. It was such a wild ride, and this was so educational doing this. Not to mention that I spent half-a-day googling Chinese cupboards. LOL.
Anyway, Iāve spent some time in this post talking about Chinese guardian lions, and let me tell you something--the gates of this Forbidden City have two male lions, unlike the one below, because the one below has a female lion with a baby cup under her paw (itās the one on the right).
The conventional is to have one male and female, like the one shown in black and white, but the detail was probably taken out to make it easier to animate. Probably.
The Emperorās hat has lost its beads! Noo.
Is it still the Emperorās hat when all the beads are gone? Hmmmm.
All right, this scene is so very powerful inĀ ā90s cinema, and let me tell you why. The gang of three disguise themselves as women while the soundtrack of the training montage plays, which is a deliberate and obvious way to undermine all the gender roles that have been instilled in them right from the very beginning.
But by embracing their feminine side, all of them show that strength (which is often perceived as male) and femininity are not mutually exclusive, and that they go hand in hand. In fact, their femininity provides them with the element of surprise and helps then defeat Shan Yu because itās not seen as a threat.
TL;DR The movieās message is never underestimate women, people shouldnāt be boxed into gender roles, and that is why, at the end of the day, I still love this movie.
The part where Shan Yu commands the Emperor to bow to him is pretty significant, because, according to the ancient Chinese worldview, China was the centre of the world and everything surrounding it had to bow to it and swear allegiance to it. In history, many vassal states have sworn allegiance to China and admitted its superiority, so doing this actually undermines the worldview that the Emperor is the centre of the universe.
You see what I mean about strength and femininity not being mutually exclusive?Ā
I think Disneyās designers were not terribly, uh, careful with the sword designs because the closest design to Shan Yuās sword is theĀ Moro Kris Sword from the Philippine Islands, that looks like this:
Source here.
We also see smaller Kris blades used by people from Brunei, Malaysia, and Thailand.
If the Huns were really based on the Mongols, the sword will look like this:
Source here.
Chien Po is freaking out because youāre not allowed to touch the Emperor at all. He has the mandate of heaven, which kinda of means he was chosen by the gods to rule China.Ā
But this is a life-or-death situation, so I guess itās an exception.
Somethingās missing from the doors. A couple of guardian lions, perhaps?
Here we go. Source here.
The makers of the movie in this video (watch from the 5:13 mark) have emphasised that this moment is important in the film because Shan Yu underestimates her abilities as a woman.Ā
By now, we know one of the filmās messages is that femininity and strength and not mutually exclusive, and her using the fan proves just that.
According toĀ Ancient Chinese Weapons: A Martial Artist's Guide by Jwing-Ming Yang, hereās what a fan can do:
The words on the yellow barrel are 大竹 (dĆ Ā zhĆŗ), which is literally written as big bamboo.Ā
The words at the bottom are å±é© (wĆ©i xiĒn), which means danger.
I donāt think anyone in the history of China has ever done this. Like, no Emperor and nation has bowed to a hero, but hey--thatās how you take creative liberties with a story, I guess.
The closest we have was Liu Bang, who established the Han dynasty while he was still living. His father had to bow to the Emperor, but Liu Bang decided that he shouldnāt. (Because filial piety, amirite?)
After this, the Emperor asks Mulan to be a member of his council. There was only such a thing in the Qing dynasty, although the original story does have the Emperor asking Mulan to be a military advisor of sorts, as well.
In this version and both versions, all Mulan does is want to go home, because thatās who she is at the end of the day--someone who is filial.
Yes, filial piety is a thing that Confucius came up with and itās basically the respect and obedience you have to have for oneās elders, and doing whatever it takes to protect your family.
This Emperorās crest/necklaceĀ probably didnāt exist at all and was used to further the plot.
However, in the Qin dynasty, when the first Emperor united all the Warring states, a piece of jade was carved to symbolise his eternal rule. It was called theĀ Heirloom Seal of the Realm.
"Having received the Mandate from Heaven, may (the emperor) lead a long and prosperous life." (åå½ę¼å¤©ļ¼ę¢å£½ę°øę) were written by Prime Minister Li Si, and carved onto the seal by Sun Shou.
The seal was passed up to the Tang dynasty, but was lost during theĀ Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907-960).
Whichever archaeologist finds it will have definitely struck gold.














