{"id":557,"date":"2021-01-24T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=557"},"modified":"2025-09-10T12:07:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T04:07:28","slug":"caigao2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2021\/01\/24\/caigao2021\/","title":{"rendered":"The hero\u00adine\u2019s song passed down through the gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cMulan\u201d 2021 edi\u00adtion cov\u00ader<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As ear\u00adly as 2012, two years before the ini\u00adtial ver\u00adsion of \u201cMulan\u201d was pub\u00adlished, I had the hon\u00ador of lis\u00adten\u00ading to Teacher Cai Gao\u2019s detailed intro\u00adduc\u00adtion to the main con\u00adtent and cre\u00adative ideas of the book. I was very excit\u00aded at the time and promised Teacher Cai Gao that after the book was pub\u00adlished, I would sing \u201cMulan Ci\u201d for her in its entire\u00adty, because this North\u00adern Dynasty folk song is real\u00adly a song that can be sung, and this ver\u00adsion hap\u00adpens to strict\u00adly use the orig\u00adi\u00adnal poem as the text, with text and pic\u00adtures com\u00adple\u00adment\u00ading each oth\u00ader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The sto\u00adry of Hua Mulan has seen numer\u00adous con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary adap\u00adta\u00adtions. Not only have Chi\u00adnese films been pro\u00adduced, but Dis\u00adney alone has pro\u00adduced both an ani\u00admat\u00aded film and a live-action film. In recent years, mul\u00adti\u00adple pic\u00adture book ver\u00adsions of the sto\u00adry have also emerged, most notably \u201cI Am Hua Mulan,\u201d a col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion between Qin Wen\u00adjun and Yu Rong, and the French ver\u00adsion of \u201cMulan,\u201d a col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion between Ye Jun\u00adliang and Cl\u00e9\u00admence Polet. In both film and pic\u00adture book adap\u00adta\u00adtions, the authors have focused on infus\u00ading this ancient hero\u00adine with mod\u00adern ele\u00adments, striv\u00ading to explore a fem\u00adi\u00adnine con\u00adscious\u00adness more rel\u00ade\u00advant to today. Com\u00adpar\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly, Cai Gao\u2019s ver\u00adsion of \u201cMulan\u201d is the most authen\u00adtic, attempt\u00ading to return to a more rur\u00adal and folk con\u00adtext, allow\u00ading for a last\u00ading expe\u00adri\u00adence of the hero\u00adine\u2019s song.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cai Gao\u2019s paint\u00adings blend the charm of tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal literati paint\u00ading, folk paint\u00ading, and naive chil\u00addren\u2019s art, while mas\u00adter\u00adful\u00adly employ\u00ading the nar\u00adra\u00adtive lan\u00adguage of pic\u00adture books. The sto\u00adry begins on the front end\u00adpa\u00adpers. Against the back\u00addrop of a del\u00adi\u00adcate land\u00adscape paint\u00ading, what kind of sto\u00adry will the gal\u00adlop\u00ading war\u00adrior on horse\u00adback bring? Who is the spin\u00adning girl on the copy\u00adright page? What is the elder\u00adly father lean\u00ading on crutch\u00ades look\u00ading at on the title page, and who is the girl peek\u00ading over? Turn\u00ading to the main text, \u201cJiji, jiji, Mulan weaves by the win\u00addow\u201d\u2026 \u201cThe Bal\u00adlad of Mulan\u201d begins, and the paint\u00ading depicts a warm fam\u00adi\u00adly of five. The dark brown, earthy hue sug\u00adgests a well-fed farm\u00ading fam\u00adi\u00adly, well-off through hard work. How\u00adev\u00ader, the peace\u00adful atmos\u00adphere is inter\u00adrupt\u00aded by the father sharp\u00aden\u00ading a sword. We know war is approach\u00ading.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When recount\u00ading tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal sto\u00adries like these, Cai Gao did\u00adn\u2019t sim\u00adply omit the depic\u00adtion of the liv\u00ading envi\u00adron\u00adment. Instead, she metic\u00adu\u00adlous\u00adly recre\u00adates details, includ\u00ading farm\u00adhous\u00ades, beds, tables and chairs, farm tools, kitchens, uten\u00adsils, tex\u00adtile looms, court\u00adyards, flow\u00aders, plants, and trees. This abil\u00adi\u00adty is in part due to her years of expe\u00adri\u00adence teach\u00ading in rur\u00adal areas and her deep love for her native land. Watch\u00ading Cai Gao\u2019s paint\u00adings of tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal sto\u00adries is a pro\u00adfound\u00adly enrich\u00ading expe\u00adri\u00adence. She also metic\u00adu\u00adlous\u00adly recre\u00adates rur\u00adal cus\u00adtoms and prac\u00adtices. Mulan invites her par\u00adents to sit down when she announces her depar\u00adture, and upon return\u00ading home, she bows to the elders and fel\u00adlow vil\u00adlagers. The chil\u00addren nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly dis\u00adplay an inno\u00adcent and live\u00adly demeanor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the artist does\u00adn\u2019t sim\u00adply stop at a real\u00adis\u00adtic ren\u00adder\u00ading; she excels at select\u00ading spe\u00adcif\u00adic objects as sym\u00adbols, illu\u00admi\u00adnat\u00ading them with deeply sym\u00adbol\u00adic mean\u00adings. For exam\u00adple, in the dou\u00adble-page paint\u00ading \u201cMorn\u00ading, I Leave My Par\u00adents, and Stay by the Yel\u00adlow Riv\u00ader at Dusk,\u201d a door appears in the low\u00ader left cor\u00adner, an earth\u00aden stove in the low\u00ader cen\u00adter, and a well in the cen\u00adter-left. Scat\u00adtered across the can\u00advas are bare trees\u2014the door, well, stove, and fam\u00adi\u00adly tree\u2014all sym\u00adbols of home. Here, they cor\u00adre\u00adspond to the gath\u00ader\u00ading troops head\u00ading off, cre\u00adat\u00ading a poignant scene of \u201cchar\u00adi\u00adots rum\u00adbling, hors\u00ades neigh\u00ading, and trav\u00adel\u00aders with bows and arrows at their waists.\u201d This echoes the scene of Mulan\u2019s return home, where we see the well again. The peach tree beside it is in bloom, its petals falling in a show\u00ader of col\u00adors, their petals scat\u00adter\u00ading down upon the peo\u00adple. This seems to sym\u00adbol\u00adize recov\u00adery and hope, but the major\u00adi\u00adty of peo\u00adple in the vil\u00adlage are either elder\u00adly or chil\u00addren, which reveals the heavy price paid for this peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My favorite scenes are the two fac\u00ading pages depict\u00ading Mulan chang\u00ading her clothes in her boudoir. They both employ a tech\u00adnique of simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adous inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion, com\u00adbin\u00ading sev\u00ader\u00adal events occur\u00adring at dif\u00adfer\u00adent times into a sin\u00adgle scene. In the first, after \u201clast night I saw the mil\u00adi\u00adtary order, the Khan was recruit\u00ading sol\u00addiers,\u201d and think\u00ading of her father and younger broth\u00ader, who could\u00adn\u2019t join the army, Mulan res\u00adolute\u00adly dons her bat\u00adtle robes. Lat\u00ader, upon return\u00ading home, she \u201csheds my wartime robes and dons my old clothes.\u201d While the lay\u00adout of the scenes remains the same, the details dif\u00adfer great\u00adly, requir\u00ading the read\u00ader to com\u00adpare them like a game of \u201cspot the dif\u00adfer\u00adences.\u201d This process begins with a sense of depres\u00adsion and ends with a sense of opti\u00admism, cul\u00admi\u00adnat\u00ading in the next page, where she goes out to see her com\u00adpan\u00adions, where the emo\u00adtions reach a cli\u00admax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cai Gao\u2019s ver\u00adsion of Mulan does\u00adn\u2019t specif\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly explore mod\u00adern female sub\u00adjec\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty, but it strives to restore a cer\u00adtain kind of life scene that remains real and tan\u00adgi\u00adble to this day, show\u00adcas\u00ading the role mod\u00adel of self-respect and self-reliance that has exist\u00aded since ancient times. In this sense, it is also con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of this hero\u00adic song, \u201cTwo rab\u00adbits run side by side on the ground, how can I tell which is male and which is female?\u201d The spot where the rab\u00adbits frol\u00adic looks quite famil\u00adiar. It could be a cor\u00adner of Hua Mulan\u2019s vil\u00adlage, or per\u00adhaps the Peach Blos\u00adsom Spring. If you doubt it, take a look at the end\u00adpa\u00adpers. Isn\u2019t the small bridge in the cen\u00adter a re-enact\u00adment of the scene where \u201cthey were star\u00adtled to see the fish\u00ader\u00adman\u201d? In fact, the Peach Blos\u00adsom Spring appears in many of Cai Gao\u2019s tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal pic\u00adture books. Such a peace\u00adful and beau\u00adti\u00adful life must have been Hua Mulan\u2019s ide\u00adal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writ\u00adten in Bei\u00adjing on Jan\u00adu\u00adary 24, 2021<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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