Week 1: The History of Fa Mulan

Well, while I was researching the history of Fa Mulan, I found a great website that gives an overview of the story and a history of the name Mulan. The website is http://www2.selu.edu/Academics/Faculty/elejeune/mulan.htm. After reading the information on this website, I got a real understanding of the true story. I also found a true respect for Hua Mulan, which is what she is called. She is very important in the Chinese culture. She is even used as a symbol for heroic behavior. I also enjoyed the fact that the website told about not only the story of Hua Mulan, but it also told about the background of the poem's construction. I found out that the poem is made in the song form of "Yueh-fu." This is a style that stemmed from folk songs. Then the website gave information on "Yueh-fu." Overall, I feel that this website is a helpful resource for information on Hua Mulan. I then found another website that gave the actual poem "Mu-lan" in English. The poem was written be an anonymous female Chinese poet in 5th or 6th century A.D. The website is http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/5082/mulanpoem.html.