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Hua Mulan () is the Heroine who joined an all-male army described in a famous Chinese Poem written during the period of the Northern Dynasties ( 420 - 589 ) and first collected in ''Yuefu'', the Song Dynasty ( 960 - 1279 ) anthology of lyrics, songs, and poems. Whether she was a historical person or whether the poem was an Allegory has been debated through centuries. One thing for certain is that the original author's identity is lost forever. (It could have been simply from some peasant chanting away about the story of the heroine.) OVERVIEW In the story, Mulan disguised herself as a man to take her elderly father's place in the army. She disguised herself as a soldier and was offered a government post by the emperor himself after her service was up. She turned down the position to return to her family. Later, when her former comrades visited her at home, they were shocked to see her dressed as a woman. Another myth had Mulan requested repeatedly by messengers to be a Concubine for Yang , the second Sui Dynasty Emperor , after he found out his prized general was a woman. She refused and committed Suicide , afterwards. The Emperor then held a Funeral with honors for Hua Mulan. The story was expanded into a novel during the late Ming Dynasty ( 1368 - 1644 ). On June 5 , 1998 , Disney released an animated movie entitled '' Mulan '' loosely based on the story. NAME The word "mulan" means " Magnolia ." ("Mu" by itself means " Wood " and "Lan" means " Orchid "). The heroine of the poem is given many different family names in the various versions of her story. According to '' Annals Of The Ming '', her family name is Zhu, while the Annals Of The Qing say it is Wei. ''The Ballad of Mulan'' gives her family name to be Mu. Xu Wei offers yet another alternative when, in his play, he gives her the family name Hua (meaning "flower"). This latter name has become the most popular in recent years. Her complete name is then written "Hua Mulan" in Pinyin and "Hua Mu-lan" in Wade-Giles . MISCELLANEOUS
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