Since the Disney movie Mulan exists, most of you have probably heard of China's Hua Mulan folklore. But actually, Korea and Japan have their own cross-dressing woman stories too. Well, strictly speaking, the Japanese one isn't exactly a woman... but I grouped them together anyway. So today, I'm gonna introduce all of them.
1. China - Hua Mulan (花木蘭)
Let's start with the most famous one, China's Hua Mulan. The story first appears in a piece of literature called the 'Ballad of Mulan' written during the Northern and Southern dynasties period.
The plot isn't overly complex and is pretty much the same as the Disney movie. Mulan's dad is too sick to serve in the military but the family has no sons (some versions say there's a brother but he's too young). So, Mulan, who was just minding her business weaving at home, dresses as a man and goes to war in her father's place. However, the movie adds a lot of 'flavor' like a love interest, a dragon, and a cricket to make it less boring. In the original folklore, she just fights hard for the Emperor, returns home a hero, and when she finally takes off the disguise, everyone is just like, 'Wait, you were a girl?!' and it ends pretty simply.
It’s not 100% clear which dynasty the 'Ballad of Mulan' is based on, but the prevailing theory is the Northern Wei. This is because the poem refers to the Emperor as 'Khan' (可汗). Considering the intro where she's weaving, she's clearly from an agrarian culture, yet the Emperor is called by a nomadic title. This suggests the Emperor was from a group with both nomadic and agrarian traits—which points directly to Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei, who was of Xianbei descent but pushed for Sinicization.
Btw, here's a fun fact about the Mulan movie. In the early stages of development, a Chinese-American artist named Chen Yi-chang worked on the concept art. I think he was from Taiwan, but I’m not sure. Anyway, he's pretty famous in Hollywood for Chinese-style art (he worked on Kung Fu Panda too). Since the Northern Wei is the consensus setting, and they were the Xianbei people, he drew concept art with insane historical accuracy based on Xianbei-style clothing.
I think this specific concept art is the highlight. It perfectly recreates a mural from the Northern Qi dynasty.
(A mural depicting Xianbei people from Northern Qi. The one in red got a lot of attention because they look Caucasian.) However, Chen Yi-chang's concept art was rejected because it felt too different from the 'Old China' image Westerners had in the 90s. So it just remained as an early draft.
2. Korea - Seoljuk-hwa (雪竹花)
Seoljuk-hwa is a Goryeo-era legend passed down mainly in the North Korean region. It probably got introduced to the South during the 2000s when there was a lot of joint inter-Korean historical research. The legend goes like this:
During the Goryeo-Khitan War, a military officer named Lee Gwan died in battle. He left behind a wife (surnamed Hong) and a 10-year-old daughter. After the war, his belongings were sent home, including a poem he wrote expressing his deep patriotism. Seeing this, the mother sobbed and told her daughter, 'If only you were a boy, you could have carried on your father's legacy...' The daughter then declared she would learn martial arts, and despite family opposition, the mother secretly trained her.
I honestly wonder what kind of lady the mother was to be able to train her daughter to be a master. I looked it up but there's no explanation... Was she like a Goryeo-era Chun-Li? Anyway, the daughter grew up to be an elite warrior, and when she turned 18, the Third Goryeo-Khitan War broke out. She dressed as a man, went to General Gang Gam-chan, and asked to join the fight. Gang Gam-chan, thinking she was just a young boy, tried to send her home saying she was too young. She replied, 'How can age or size matter when serving one's country!' Impressed, the general gave her his own white horse and a spear.
From then on, she called herself 'Seoljuk-hwa,' meaning 'Bamboo flower blooming in the snow.' Since her dad's surname was Lee, some call her 'Lee Seoljuk-hwa,' but since it's more of a nickname than a real name, that sounds a bit weird.
Seoljuk-hwa fought like a beast throughout the war but was eventually killed by an arrow during the final stages of the Battle of Gwiju. While searching for survivors after the battle, Gang Gam-chan found the body of the 'boy warrior' he had noticed. Only then did he realize she was a woman. I was lowkey hoping she'd show up in the 'Goryeo-Khitan War' K-drama, but she didn't. Back in the day when dramas had 100 episodes, she definitely would've made it in, but the recent series was too short to fit her in.
3. Japan - Yamato Takeru no Mikoto (日本武尊)
Yamato Takeru is a legendary hero in Japanese mythology, described as the son of the 12th Emperor, Keiko. His story is long, but basically, it's a series of conquests of neighboring states by the Yamato regime. It explains how various place names in Japan were created. At this point, you're probably thinking, 'Wait, I thought this was about cross-dressing women?' Well, Yamato Takeru is not a woman. He's a straight-up dude.
But he's a cross-dressing man.
Damn... Japan really was ahead of the curve compared to Korea and China in this department. His story starts with him conquering a group called the Kumaso in Kyushu. His father told him to go conquer them, but the terrain was rough and the leader's house was a fortress, so he figured a frontal assault wouldn't work.
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