Hua Mulan
Hua Mulan is one of the most known heroines in Chinese folklore. Her name first appeared in a narrative poem, Mu Lan Ci (The Ballad of Mulan), of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589) and became a household name later. It was said that during the reign of Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the fifth century, the northern nomadic groups constantly invaded southward, and the Northern Wei emperor demanded that each household send a male to fight on the frontline. Having a sick old father and a little brother too young to go, Hua Mulan joined the army in her father's place. She battled gallantly on the frontier while trying her best to hide her female identity. A dozen years later, she came back in triumph. She declined the emperor's offer of promotion and returned home to fulfill her filial duty to her parents.
Hua Mulan was posthumously honored as General of Filial Piety and Military Prowess in the Tang Dynasty (618- 907), and a temple was built to commemorate her. Still standing in Yucheng County of Henan Province today, the temple houses a statue of the heroine and two steles, one established in the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) and the other in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), that record her origin, hometown, time, and military exploits. In 2007, the China Folk Literature and Art Association officially confirmed Yucheng County as the hometown of Hua Mulan. In 2008, the legend of Hua Mulan was included in the national list of intangible cultural heritage.
Through the ages, Hua Mulan has been a representative of outstanding Chinese women and the incarnation of the Chinse ethos. Her loyalty, filial piety, bravery, and courage, all growing out of a deep love for the family and the country, have inspired generations of Chinese. The culture related to Hua Mulan is a valuable asset for historical studies as it involves ethics, folklore, religion, literature, and art. Literary works including poems, travel notes, and prose in honor of the ancient heroine are widely circulated, and her stories have been staged in more than 20 Chinese opera genres, such as Peking, Henan, Yueju, Kunqu, Qinqiang and Huangmei operas.
The stories of Hua Mulan have long spread to Japan and the Korean Peninsular and been taken to Europe and America in a number of art forms. The earliest English translation of The Ballad of Mulan appeared in a book titled Hanlin Papers or Essays on the Intellectual Life of the Chinese published by Trubner & Co. of London and Kelly & Walsh of Shanghai in 1880. In 1998 and 2004, the Walt Disney Company produced two animated movies Mulan about the heroine, followed by a live-action 3D movie of the same title in 2020. The overseas circulation of the stories of Hua Mulan has taken in the foreign audience's understanding of her spirit and promoted cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world.
木蘭文化
花木蘭是中國古代傳說的四大巾幗英雄之一，最早出現于南北朝的敘事詩《木蘭辭》中，后在民間廣為流傳。北魏太武年間（公元424年至452年），中國北方游牧民族不斷南下侵擾，北魏政權規定每家派出一名男子上前線。但木蘭父親年邁、體弱多病，弟弟幼小無法參軍，于是木蘭替父從軍，駐守邊關，既要英勇作戰，又要隱瞞性別，克服了難以想象的艱難。十多年后，木蘭凱旋，皇帝欲加官進爵，木蘭卻毅然拒絕，返鄉孝敬父母，后被唐朝皇帝追封為“孝烈將軍”。
現河南省虞城縣存有始建于唐朝的木蘭祠。祠中設木蘭像，并存有元朝《孝烈將軍祠像辨正記》碑和清朝《孝烈將軍辨誤正名記》碑兩塊祠碑。2007年，中國民間文藝家協會正式命名虞城縣為“中國木蘭之鄉”。2008年，《木蘭傳說》入選國家級非物質文化遺產名錄。
千百年來，花木蘭已經成為中華女性杰出代表和民族精神的化身，其所代表的以家國情懷為核心的忠孝節義、勇武仁愛的精神，激勵著一代代中華兒女。木蘭文化涉及倫理、民俗、宗教、文學、藝術等多方面內容，具有珍貴的歷史研究價值。描寫和謳歌木蘭動人事跡的詩歌、游記、散文等作品廣為流傳，曾上演過木蘭戲的劇種包括京劇、豫劇、越劇、昆曲、秦腔、黃梅戲等20多種。木蘭故事在日本、韓國、朝鮮早有流傳，并且以多種藝術形式傳播到歐美國家。《木蘭辭》英譯本最早見于1880年由倫敦特魯伯納公司和上海別發印書局同時出版的《翰林文稿：中國人智慧生活文錄》一書。美國迪士尼電影公司分別于1998年和2004年推出兩部《花木蘭》動畫片，并于2020年推出真人版3D電影《花木蘭》。木蘭文化的海外傳播，融入了世界各國人民對其精神內涵的理解，促進了中外文化交流。
