My granddaughter always nodded in confusion when I told her what to write in Mulan Ci. Hua Mulan lived in the Northern Dynasty, an agricultural civilization in which men and women were intertwined more than a thousand years ago. "Twitter, Mulan is knitting at home". Mulan has been studying and knitting for her family since she was a child. Their family lived a self-sufficient simple living.
The border war broke the quiet rural life of Mulan's family. Mulan saw "Twelve volumes of the art of war, each with a grandfather's name" and thought "Grandfather has no eldest son and Mulan has no eldest brother". Although Mulan still has a younger sister, not her eldest daughter, she did not hesitate to offer "to be a pommel horse for the city from now on and sign for my grandfather", which shows Mulan's sense of responsibility to the family. Who says women are inferior to men? Mulan is the daughter of a soldier. For this family, she is willing to dress up as a woman and join the army for her father. Her patriotic feelings are first manifested in her love for her family and her courage to undertake her father's military service. This is Mulan's simplest feelings of home and country.
"East city to buy a horse, west city to buy a saddle. Buy hoes in the south and whips in the north. " These four poems were written for Mulan's family and went through some careful preparations for going out to war. Give up the small family, go all out for everyone, regardless of personal family gains and losses. Ready, Mulan went out on a good horse. For the country, regardless of manpower and material resources, Mulan's patriotic feelings are actually for her father to join the army.
"I said goodbye to my mother, and I stayed by the Yellow River at dusk. I didn't smell my mother calling a female voice, but I heard the Yellow River splashing. Say goodbye to the Yellow River and go to Montenegro at dusk. I didn't hear my parents calling for a female voice, but I heard Yanshan riding and singing. " These eight poems vividly describe Mulan's great attachment to her family on her way to war. In the two sentence patterns of arranging couples, the sentence "I didn't hear the voice of my parents calling for women" was used twice to highlight Mulan's great yearning for her parents and her reluctance to go home on the way to war. It was because of her incomparable love for her family that she was inspired to forge ahead and be invincible on the battlefield.
"Wan Li to Dijon machine, care if fly. The breath of the new moon is golden, and the cold light is iron. The general died in a hundred battles, and the strong man returned in ten years. " This passage is about twelve years of military life. Military life is only a summary of background materials, and the author does not highlight the bloodiness and cruelty of war. "After a hundred battles, a general dies, and a strong man returns in ten years" is an intertextual rhetoric method, which briefly summarizes that some of the strong men of the general died in battle and some survived and returned home in triumph. Mulan, heroic and spirited, fought many battles and finally returned home in triumph. This article expresses Mulan's longing for a quiet life.
"Go back to see the son of heaven, the son of heaven. When Khan asked what he wanted, Mulan didn't need Shang Shulang. I hope that camels will travel thousands of miles and send my children back to their hometown. " In this passage, Mulan received an award for meritorious service and was received by the emperor. Mulan doesn't want high officials and high salaries, but just wants to go back to her hometown and reunite with her family. Mulan's initial intention to join the army is to join the army for her father. Now that the war is over and her mission has been completed, she resolutely returned to her warm home. Twelve years of military career is not for fame and fortune, but for joining the army for my father and doing my duty as a father of ordinary people for the country. This poem describes from the side that Mulan chose family warmth and reunion with her family over family warmth. Hua Mulan's attachment to family, such as the same red line running through the whole poem, is consistent with her love for family. Patriotism is Mulan's feelings for home and country.
"Ye Niang smell female, Guo will help each other. Sister-in-law heard that her sister-in-law was coming to take care of her red makeup. As soon as I heard that my sister came, I sharpened my knife to pigs and sheep. " This poem uses intertextual rhetoric to describe the welcome activities of the family when they learn that Mulan is back. Welcome to leave the country, dress up, kill pigs and sheep, and do your best to warmly welcome Mulan to triumph. This passage positively describes the affection and enthusiasm of Mulan's family, which was not bought with gold.
"Open my East Pavilion door and sit on my West Pavilion bed. Take off my wartime robe and put on my old clothes. There are clouds in the window and the mirror column is yellow. " This passage is about Mulan's coming home. The first is the return of identity. When I get home, I don't have to dress up as a woman, take off my coat and restore my daughter's identity. A strong general on the battlefield, taking off his shirt, is my parents' daughter, my elder sister's little sister and my brother's second sister. Mulan's happy mood when she came home wrote Mulan's longing for a quiet and peaceful life. For my father, the purpose of joining the army is to defend our country, and defending our country is to live a quiet and peaceful life, and a quiet and peaceful life is for this affection. Family ties are priceless, and they are eternal feelings of home and country.
"Go out to see partners, partners are busy. After traveling together for twelve years, I realized that Mulan was a girl. " Write about Mulan's partner's reaction when she learns that Mulan is a girl. Surprise is envy at the same time, and envy is worship at the same time. This is the climax of the emotional expression of the whole poem.
"The male rabbit's feet are simple, and the female rabbit's eyes are blurred. When two rabbits walk next to the ground, I can tell whether I am a male or a female!" The reasons why Mulan disguised as a man is not easy to find are all written in figurative rhetoric. At the end of the story after the climax of the whole poem, the poem comes to an abrupt end, incoherent and endless in meaning.
Opening the folk song "Mulan Ci" of the Northern Dynasties, we are greeted with warm feelings of home and country. Reading again and again, through the history of Qian Shan, Mulan's heroic disguise as a man is just around the corner. We admire the heroine Mulan. We have inherited the deep affection of China family, and only when there is a country can we praise the feelings of home and country.
(Written in February 2020 14)
Postscript: Hua Mulan's stories and poems about joining the army probably originated in the Northern Wei Dynasty. From 407 to 493 AD, there were many wars between the Northern Wei Dynasty, the northern Xianbei regime and the Rouran people living in the present Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the Mongolian People's Republic. Montenegro and Yanshan mentioned in the poem are the battlefields of the Northern Wei Dynasty and Rouran. Mulan Ci may be a northern folk song with the battle between the Northern Wei Dynasty and Rouran as the background. Mulan Ci and Peacock Flying Southeast are both Yuefu folk songs.