2.2 Mulan，a Warrior

According to Marcia Landy，the image of the hero （or heroine） plays an important part in costume films，as the star is “a carrier of social and economic value in the contemporary culture，thus conferring meaning on the figures and events selected from the past”.^[13] The heroine Mulan，as mentioned in Chapter 1，has at least three kinds of identities according to the comparatively vague depiction in The Ballad of Mulan：a patriotic soldier，a filial daughter and a feminist. In the 1939 film，determined by its patriotic theme and the social focus of anti-Japanese war，her military identity is emphasized. Being a modern version of Hua Mulan who cares more about the safety of the country than the happiness of household life and would like to devote herself to the nation，the protagonist successfully connects the current national crisis with the ancient legend. Accordingly，the representations of the supporting roles whether helpers of hers or enemies are all set surrounding the war theme.

The focus of the narrative of Mulan Joins the Army is that a person，no matter male or female，can do a good job in protecting the country with patriotic belief and practical work. Yet the director’s aim is to depict the heroine as an excellent military person. However，what is the standard of a good soldier in ancient China？According to ancient military archives and literary works，such as The Art of War，Three Kingdoms and the Outlaws of the Marsh，a qualified soldier should be loyal，brave and intelligent. Described in an ancient Chinese dictionary，Shuowen Jiezi （“Explaining Simple and Analysing Compound Characters”），loyalty means to show your respect to people in a higher position than you，and to try your best to help them.^[14] Shown in the film，Mulan perseveres in her faithfulness to the commander，even when he is unable not distinguish right from wrong and hesitates to take action. Seeing that he is deceived by the military advisor，she tries hard to persuade him to prepare for the upcoming attack launched by the enemy. She also does her best to protect her leader when he is in danger out of the ignorance of her suggestion. The girl’s leniency and unabated guard over her boss just fits for the ancient requirement for loyalty.

Her bravery and intelligence are mainly shown by her actions in three conflicts. The first is between Mulan and the male hunters from the neighbour village who tries to hold the girl to ransom. By distracting their attention to the birds flying in the sky，she succeeds in steering clear of their encirclement. The second is between the girl and her comrades in war. When they meets for the first time，other soldiers intends to take advantage of her as they think Mulan is a weak young man with feminized looking. Depending on her great martial skills，the girl bashes them and later wins their respect with her excellent behaviour at war. The third is between her and the military counsellor on whether the enemy will attack them. This time，with detailed investigation，she unveils the traitorous tricks of the opposition. Of all three conditions，the heroine is not afraid of the opposite side，whether it is one evil person，or a group of brash men. She is always in the saddle relying on her great prowess. All these plots serve the goal of the director to depict the protagonist as an excellent soldier，against a background that it is a girl，who is usually treated as powerless，that has done all this.

The rebellious factor of the protagonist is weakened for the sake of the emphasis of her patriotic feeling. Although in the movie Mulan’s going to the front in lieu of her father does have some elements against the ancient traditions which deprives women the rights of any movement outside home，she only prosecutes it secretly. That is，during the whole military period，she uses a male identity to fight for the country and only after the victory of the war and returning back to home does she show her real gender to her companions. This revealed that being a patriotic girl，Mulan does not care much about personal interests. She surmounts all the obstacles of cross-dressing only to gain the chance to fulfil her responsibility for the country. And when the nation is out of danger，she refuses the emperor’s awards and chooses to be a common person as before. Here instead of breaking down completely the traditional ideas，the film pays more attention to patriotism，an idea that is urgently in need in the on-going anti-Japanese war. Setting this feeling on top of everything else，the cinema asks the public to use all kinds of ways to protect the country.

Mulan Joins the Army has added love elements to the original text. Although love，being the eternal element on screen，indeed can attract more attention，the main use of it is to serve the theme of the film. In Mulan Joins the Army，the intimacy between Mulan and her lover Liu Yuandu is directly related to the war. At first，their love is established on common patriotic beliefs. Unlike other soldiers who care more about their own safety or profits that they can get in the army，they both set the interest of the country in the first place regardless of themselves. Therefore they can join hands at war and refuse the emperor’s offer of high positions together after the final victory. The patriotic feeling becomes the matchmaker between them. Then，besides the freedom to pursuit love on the battleground，the addition of the plot of their marriage at the end of the film is also used to encourage the public to take part in the war against enemies，as it suggests that after defeating the evil figures，people can live happily ever after.

Two types of supporting parts play an important role in the Mulan movies：one is the companion of the heroine who helps her perfect her behaviours，such as her cousin in Lady General Hua Mulan and Mulan：Rise of a Warrior，or her animal friends in Mulan；the other is the villain，such as the chief of the enemies，who is taken as the foil to the protagonist. Influenced by the theme and the cultural context，the depiction of the supporting characters in these chosen cinemas varied greatly from each other. In the 1939 edition，there is no help hand for the heroine from the very beginning. This vacancy expresses that at the eleventh hour，people can only be independent and put their shirt on their own abilities and wits，instead of counting on others for help. Besides，showing that even a girl，who belongs to the traditional weaker female party of social and political formation，can go to the combat zones alone with the strong willing to defend her country intends to stimulate the audience’s action. On the other hand，while depicting the character of the enemies，Mulan Joins the Army emphasizes their barbaric and despicable behaviours. At first they try to win the war using underhanded methods，such as bribe and assassination. After seizing the city，they begin to kill residents and rob wealth. As their chief orders，“take away all the valuable things and the beauties”.^[15] To the Chinese audience of the 1930s，these plots easily remind them of the appalling atrocities of the Japanese invaders，such as the Nanjing Massacre in 1937. Hence by depicting the barbarity of the enemies on screen，the director succeeds in stir the public’s hatred for present intruders.

All together it can be seen that adopted during war against Japanese enemies，the heroine was mainly depicted as a brave and intelligent citizen who intends to take her responsibility to serve the country. Her indulgence and patriotic pursuits helped much in winning the final victory and got rewarded with true love with a like-minded combat comrade. The filial and rebellious factors of the original character were talked less as they did not have much to do with concurrent needs for war mobilization. Accordingly，the vacancy of companions of the heroine at the outset of war helps show her independence and the vivid description of the wrong doings of the foes was to represent social fact and emphasize the urgency of national protection.