Thank you for watching, if you have time why not watch another video: "Why Journey to the West is still so very Popular" : kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iKejZtiEtdXbdqs.html

Quick fun fact, "Fa" is Chinese Cantonese and "Hua" is Chinese Mandarin, they both mean flower, just different pronunciation.

Personally I think the fact that she starts out clumsy and awkward makes her even more badass and empowering because it tells little girls that they can start out anywhere at any level of experience and still break through and do amazing things

I think the Disney movie emphasized Mulan's intelligence more instead. Her turning point in "Be a Man" was when she retrieved the arrow, and she could do so because of her determination and smarts. She defeated the Huns at the mountain with strategy, not just skill and strength.

Thanks for the video I found a translated version of the original poem. The translator really did a great job! Tsiek tsiek and again tsiek tsiek, 　　 　　Mu-lan weaves, facing the door. 　　 　　You don't hear the shuttle's sound, 　　 　　You only hear Daughter's sighs. 　　 　　They ask Daughter who's in her heart, 　　 　　They ask Daughter who's on her mind. 　　 　　“No one is on Daughter's heart, 　　 　　No one is on Daughter's mind. 　　 　　Last night I saw the draft posters, 　　 　　The Khan is calling many troops, 　　 　　The army list is in twelve scrolls, 　　 　　On every scroll there's Father's name. 　　 　　Father has no grown-up son, 　　 　　Mu-lan has no elder brother. 　　 　　I want to buy a saddle and horse, 　　 　　And serve in the army in Father's place.” 　　 　　In the East Market she buys a spirited horse, 　　 　　In the West Market she buys a saddle, 　　 　　In the South Market she buys a bridle, 　　 　　In the North Market she buys a long whip. 　　 　　At dawn she takes leave of Father and Mother, 　　 　　In the evening camps on the Yellow River's bank. 　　 　　She doesn't hear the sound of Father and Mother calling, 　　 　　She only hears the Yellow River's flowing water cry tsien tsien. 　　 　　At dawn she takes leave of the Yellow River, 　　 　　In the evening she arrives at Black Mountain. 　　 　　She doesn't hear the sound of Father and Mother calling, 　　 　　She only hears Mount Yen's nomad horses cry tsiu tsiu. 　　 　　She goes ten thousand miles on the business of war, 　　 　　She crosses passes and mountains like flying. 　　 　　Northern gusts carry the rattle of army pots, 　　 　　Chilly light shines on iron armor. 　　 　　Generals die in a hundred battles, 　　 　　Stout soldiers return after ten years. 　　 　　On her return she sees the Son of Heaven, 　　 　　The Son of Heaven sits in the Splendid Hall. 　　 　　He gives out promotions in twelve ranks 　　 　　And prizes of a hundred thousand and more. 　　 　　The Khan asks her what she desires. 　　 　　“Mu-lan has no use for a minister's post. 　　 　　I wish to ride a swift mount 　　 　　To take me back to my home.” 　　 　　When Father and Mother hear Daughter is coming 　　 　　They go outside the wall to meet her, leaning on each other. 　　 　　When Elder Sister hears Younger Sister is coming 　　 　　She fixes her rouge, facing the door. 　　 　　When Little Brother hears Elder Sister is coming 　　 　　He whets the knife, quick quick, for pig and sheep. 　　 　　“I open the door to my east chamber, 　　 　　I sit on my couch in the west room, 　　 　　I take off my wartime gown 　　 　　And put on my old-time clothes.” 　　 　　Facing the window she fixes her cloudlike hair, 　　 　　Hanging up a mirror she dabs on yellow flower powder 　　 　　She goes out the door and sees her comrades. 　　 　　Her comrades are all amazed and perplexed. 　　 　　Traveling together for twelve years 　　 　　They didn't know Mu-lan was a girl. 　　 　　“The he-hare's feet go hop and skip, 　　 　　The she-hare's eyes are muddled and fuddled. 　　 　　Two hares running side by side close to the ground, 　　 　　How can they tell if I am he or she?” 　　 　　From:The Flowering Plum and the Palace Lady: Interpretations of Chinese Poetry 　　 　　By Han H. Frankel, Yale University Press, 1976

Well the "#feminism?" joke is misguided, since the original tale wasn't about female empowerment at all; it's about filial piety. I remember there was an article awhile back criticizing Disney's Mulan for being "un-feminist," since she ultimately decided to go back to meet her father after rejecting a powerful position that the emperor offered her. It got a lot of backlash, because it was viewing the story from a western perspective and then completely missing the point of the story -- which was that Mulan risked her life to protect her father, not for fame or prestige. So, of course she'd want to go back home to her family.

I've heard a lot of people say that the 1998 film was actually quite empowering to women because it showed Mulan struggling. Rather than labeling Mulan as exceptional in the beginning, she had to earn it, and had to grow into a warrior alongside all the other men she was training with, and through her dedication, grit, and intelligence, she was the only one able to climb the pole, not because she was gifted. It was her rejection of both hyper-feminity and hyper-masculinity that allowed her intelligence to shine through as well. She's established as a problem-solver, and in the climax of the film, she disarms Shan Yu with her fan, and teaches her male friends how to climb pole the way she did, and they were even willing to dress as women to sneak into the palace with her. It's not a perfect film of course, but I like the flawed Mulan better. She teaches girls that you don't have to already be gifted to do great things; just believe in yourself and work hard to reach your goals.

i think Disney went with the Cantonese "FA" so it'd be easier to read and pronounce for westerners

Out of all the Disney movies, Mulan is the one that speaks to my soul deeply...I love it so very much ♥️

fa and hua are basically the same word but said in Cantonese and Mandarine. Thanks for the idea for one of our coming Cantonese video~

I don't mind 2 dimensional villains as long as they evoke strong emotions. The animated version had a truly menacing villain with strong characterization despite not having much depth. I look at the new guy in the live action and feel nothing, tbh.

European Mulan was burnt and accused as a witch. *cough* Joan the Arc.

Unfortunately, had Disney made her badass from the start, she would have been dubbed a 'Mary Sue' instantly (see Rey in 'The Force Awakens'!). In any case, Disney's decisions actually make sense when you think about the narrative. They make the character much more relatable, and they allow her to grow as the movie progresses. If she starts badass and ends badass...well, there's really no arc there. And the lack of drama, as well as defeating the obstacle easily would eliminate the conflict, which is at the core of any great cinematic story. It's a great original, though! But I'll stay with Disney's.

Like the ending on Disney better. But I think the original ballad was excellent!

she also was in war for 12 years not 10

wait, so she bought a horse and swords to join the army? in disney she stole the horse and stuff

I really liked Disneys Mulan and remember that most Disney movies are based off of history and books and love to create their own story.

Mulan starting off clumsy was what made the song To Be A Man possible that song is the only true bop. Also it shows how even the most talented and skilled can start off like a doofus

The live action Mulan I heard will be basing the story from the original story of mulan

I found on Wikipedia that when mulan returned home her father was dead and her mother had remarried. She then became a concubine but committed suicide and said "I have done enough and want to now join my father"

I'm glad that she didn't start out as a badass. While that works for a 62 line poem, for a 21st-century family movie it would be so boring and no one would sympathize with her. There is no character development if you start out a badass and end as a badass. Fa Mulan's journey shows growth.

4 years later a live action remake of the animated film was created and boy was it bad

Great video! My mother told me Mulan's story when I was a child and in her story Mulan went to war with the name Ping because that was her younger brother's name. Have you watched China's 2009 live action movie, Mulan: Rise of a Warrior. What are your takes on that depiction of Mulan's story? It doesn't closely follow the original poem of Mulan you described in your video, but I think it did a fairly good job telling her story.

Actually mulan not being a bad ass as first is also empowering because it shows us that we can accomplish anything if we work hard towards it

The Mulan live action film trailer that came out in December 2019 is INCREDIBLE!

this is great! deserves more views

I am surprised at how much I really love this movie. I saw it in the theater when it came out. Checked it out of the public library recently. and liked it all over again. Thank you so much for this video -- I learned a lot!

thanks for this trivia... mulan is a movie close to my heart... my grandpa and i used to watch it on cd (the cartoon i mean) when i was still young and when his still with us... almost every sundays we watch it repeatedly... we always talk and laugh about it evrytime and everytime feels like it's our first seeing it...we're having a good time. me, my lolo and mulan... and now that i'm old i get to know the real story about it and remembered my once upon time with my lolo... thank you so much

I like that very casual change back she does at the end and her friends being chill about it XD

I believe everybody's forgetting about Mulan: Rise of a Warrior here.

Meanwhile in live action...

I saw the 2009 Chinese version of Mulan. You are 100% correct. Like other serious dramatic Chinese movies, it is far superior to anything put out by Hollywood or by Disney. Sticking to the original version of any story/ novel is always better than the Hollywood version.

uh, the ending is WRONG! Ha, like hell the ending would be so happy, women going to war = family execution, she wouldn't return home if there was a chance that her whole family would be executed! This is what was written in the (Chinese) history TEXTBOOK: Mulan never returned home, she never got discovered as a female until the Emperor bestowed marriage upon mulan (who is thought to be a male) and the Princess of the Chinese empire for her efforts in war, but on the day of the marriage the Princess discovered mulan to be a woman but still loved her regardless of her gender, knowing that she would be beheaded if her gender was discovered, the Princess let her go and no one has heard from her ever since. The end.

Well made, man! :D

I will now start using "flower pot" in my vocabulary to describe people.

this is a great way to learn a history lesson :)

If she's a badass and "skilled martial artist", where did she get the skills?

I found all of your points extremely interesting and very educational. however I think that if the Disney mulan had been a badass from the start then she wouldn't have been so relatable for young girls of the era. (90's) young girls have a lot more going on in their early years with growth and hormones and we know that physically, we are weaker than men. if we want to be as PHYSICALLY strong as a man then it would require the same sort of and amount of training shown in the movie. that is why Mulan's story is so relatable for young girls and why so many girls now have interests like football and martial arts, big films make big impacts and this one said that if we, as the human race, try hard enough then we can accomplish things thought to be impossible before we tried. no offense was intended in this comment. I just wanted to share my thoughts on the two stories.

Hua Ping is also "Camp Gay" from Chinese slang

Dude you are good at this. Make more videos

Nice channel dude! Subbed.

It's interesting to hear the original story of Hua Mulan. Thank you for the video. Well done. P.S.: When did Disney ever adapted something faithfully (Maybe except for The Christmas Carol or the 1961-Parents Trap)? Most of their movies based on historical events or novels are changed around to make it more sweet or funny for the families.

The fact that she from a family that faught in previous wars means that girl or not she would have trained to fight from a young age. For her own protection. Not for war. So Disney wasn't very realistic at all (ignoring the talking cricket). They should have should have shown her with adequate skill

The original ballad left Mulan wide open for a colorful story so it was wiser to go with it (since Mulan was legend and not reality you could have fun with her). The ballad indicated she was the good dutiful daughter who acted more out of love for her father than a desire for adventure so the Disney approach may have been more correct than you suggest. The Chinese produced a version of Mulan that didn't leave her bad ass, but she was brave, doing what she had to do to defeat the enemy before her. I enjoyed the Jerry Goldsmith score for the Disney film, it seems he borrowed heavily from music scores from the silent film era.

I think that the live action version did a much better stretching of the story, kept it Disney while making her a legit badass.

This video is amazing 😁

This video is fantastic, and now I have learned something about history that I never knew about. Thank you for pointing out the true story, it really fascinated me. I love the Movie, but seeing that I just learned about this, I prefer the real story seeing that she is such a bad ass!! I wouldn't be surprised if they change the live action movie to coincide with the actual real story. That would be awesome to watch!!

Excellent editing skills!

SO Glad to be getting the real story. As I first learned about Mulan from Maxine Hong Kingston's memoir The Woman Warrior before the Disney movie ever came out--I knew that it wasn't really a story of a plucky, charming, clumsy misfit girl but more the story of a Woman Warrior. Thank you for letting me see what that would look like in the original Chinese context...

This is the best movie ever made i can wait to watch the new version

Actually she didn't marry anyone but the emperor tried to force Mulan to marry her causing Mulan to loose her freedom but if Mulan said "No" the emperor would kill her family (harsh) and so Mulan said "Fuck this shit I'm out" and committed suicide.

Always thought the horse in the film [Khan] was oddly proportioned and angular, but seeing the Chinese illustration with the poem at 00:18 and 04:59 it’s nice to realise where the inspiration likely came from for the shape!

Depends if you are asking which is more satisfying or which is more entertaining. There are aspects of the original that are more satisfying, but elements of modern storytelling to make it more entertaining: the need to overcome personal shortcomings, personal setbacks against the main antagonist, dynamic relationships with other characters. a cunning victory against impossible odds using skills learned during the course of the story, and a happily-ever-after ending with someone the audience is invested in. All of these are possible while staying true to the original.

You know, there was already a live-action Mulan titled "Hua Mulan" in Chinese (Mulan 2009 or Mulan: Rise of a Warrior) . I think that version sticks closer to original story than Disney's version. If you can accept reading subtitles, i think it's an ok movie.

I mean Mulan took place during a period when Cantonese was the main language in China, I think. (Don't quote me.) Mandarin came later on. So her surname Fa isn't all too inaccurate to her time period.

2:36 Fun Fact: In German Mushu had been voiced by the famous Comedian OTTO WALKES, also just called OTTO. I personally prefer the Walkes to Eddy Murphy´s interpretation but that just is a question of personal preference .

Just watched the new live Mulan, more lined up with the poem with a couple more changes

WooKong? As in, the Monkey King? Anyway, I enjoyed your video, and I hope you'll do another one involving this year's Disney Mulan movie after it's released. I've been impressed by the trailers!

I am still trying to get my hands on the China released movie Mulan. Thank you for sharing the true and inspirational story of an amazing bad-ass woman. More people should know about her.

"It has fighting, romance..." *SHOWS HER SITTING WITH HER FATHER*

I am thinking that is natural that some things are changed when people try to make a movie or a animation since they have to add some drama (and in the disney context some entertainment for children) I find Mulan one of my favourite Disney movie of all time! There are obviously more than one theme. Even if it is far away from the real legend I think is equally worthy it's fame

4rth century tales. Mulan : " I'm the original cross dresser. The first woman to wore trousers. Give me five!"

The thing about she hare and he hare in the end is awesome in the original story

The animated movie does this a lot better telling the story

Dude, your Eddie Murphy joke was killer!

Idk, DisMulan gives her a character arc with growth whereas the original just starts with character is badass and stays there. It enhances a, by contemporary media standards, extremely dry narrative into something that will get theaters filled.

I'm embarrassed to admit 2:31 how frozen my brain went

I love this story she was a true heroe a girl with alot of courage im surprised that disney hasnt adapted joan of arc

I love her 😍 she is too sweet

I remember reading about the “original” story of Mulan. The reason why she was already an experienced martial artist was because her father actually taught her to fight. She also had one or two younger sisters and a brother who, like what was said in the video, was too young to join the war. She also became a general in the army and was highly revered, there were no gender or crossdressing drama, like what was said again in the video. Everyone was amazed about how she was actually a woman despite her big reveal. Mulan, also, was never a “tomboy”, you know, clumsy and awkward, she acts like an ideal Chinese bride- graceful, refined, and obedient. And finally, I remember reading that the emperor wanted to make her one of his concubine. Since she didn’t want that and since she had no choice, she just killed herself.

There is actually a live action movie of Mulan released in 2009. I prefer the 2009 version since it’s in Chinese, has a stronger appeal and story and overall the movie is closer to the original tale rather than the Disney version. You guys should see it if you haven’t.

Just came from China Uncensored and subbed, great content my man! Original Mulan was more badass, but she didn't have one of the greatest Disney songs of all time! Gotta give it up for "I'll make a man out of you".😁

I like the original.... but... a big one... is that at the she ended up getting married to a random dude just because her parents wanted...

Is mushu the son of donkey and the Dragon from shrek

The original tale is better for sure, But You know Disney.... ;) they need to change stuff as usual (who says Lion King??)

each time he says Mulan is different from the time before.

Very interested now in hearing your impressions of the live action version now that its out. It seems to be pretty faithful of the poem.

Hyped for the reimagining (2020)

straight up badass

Came here after watch MULAN new trailer

Fa is flower in Cantonese , and if u ask how i know that im eng, Cantonese,and chines and little JAPANESE

I luv her so much

The mulan's story could be real. Maria Quitéria de Jesus was born on June 27, 1792, in Licurizeiro, in the parish of São José das Itaporocas (now located in Feira de Santana), Bahia. She was the eldest daughter of a farmer, Gonçalo Alves de Almeida, and his wife, Quitéria Maria de Jesus. Although Maria received no formal education, she would have practiced the skills necessary to farming, such as riding, hunting, and using firearms-these skills would serve her in the military as well. Against her father's will, an unmarried Maria Quitéria enlisted in the Brazilian army, as a man, in October 1822. Until June 1823, she fought in several battles against the Portuguese in Bahia, where she lived. Maria Quitéria's father outed her as a woman once he discovered her betrayal-but because of her skill in battle, she was allowed to continue to fight. She was promoted to cadet in July 1823, and then to lieutenant in August, where she was received and decorated by the Emperor. After her time serving in the war, Quitéria married Gabriel Pereira Brito (who was a former lover of hers) and had one daughter with him, named Luisa.

3:15 you say you preffer her being a baddass from the beggining, but if that happened in the animation you'd say It's Mary Sue.

The original was better by a long shot. Real women are strong, vibrant, and wise, as well as truthful, patient, wild natured, and courageous, yet kind. 😊 just like the real woman I've known since childhood, Brea... I was very lucky to be with her. And that she tried so much.

Is the random witch in the live action REALLY in the original play???? I think she kinda undermines the whole point of her taking down the male villain by herself. Also i would have been okay with a LEOPARD MAN as a villain. 😂👌🏼✨

Now theres a 2020 live remake of Mulan

What, no singing, no crickets, no clumsy dragons ? What's the fun in that ?

Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that Mushu and the cricket didn’t exist? Oh no.

It would have been awesome if the animated movie was more like the original and with her already knowing how to fight but still keep "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" just because it's a cool song

I believe that "Fa" Mulan refers to the Cantonese version as the character 花 sounds like "Fa" in Cantonese while it sounds like “hua" in Mandarin.

Disney Mulan any day

What is the name of the background music?

All students in China leant that poem in high school😀😀

Nice, although I personally think that mulan is more on protagonist vs. Society (Societal Expectations/Norms) rather than a protagonist vs. anatagonist (the dude with the hawk 😰can't remember his name 😂) *looking it up was so spot on *

You know what would be a true icon of feminism? The legend of the white snake. Now that’s a badass of epic proportions.

Whos here after seing the trailer????

my teacher sent me here O.o

WHAT I THOUGHT SHE ALREADY KNOW HOW TO FIGHT

Hahahahahah ‘after coming home from war she was quickly married off by her parents to some... random neighbor’ oh my lol