The monarchy was a huge part of the movie in the aspect that the army that Mulan went to was trained to prevent the Han dynasty from killing the emperor who is a monarch but of much larger kingdoms. Many argue that the emperor from Mulan was based on the real-life emperor Qin Shi Huang the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of unified China,but that is yet to be confirmed.
Monarchy is also shown at the beginning in which the emperor of China commands the general and the council to protect the people and get more to enlist rather than objecting the council agreed to his command knowing his word is definite. At the end of the movie Mulan is known to have been in disguise as a soldier instead of doing as the law(or rule) states he didn’t kill her he had enough power to break that rule without consequence and he also had enough power to promote her to his counsel without objection. Confucianism is a prominent historical theme in the movie Mulan mostly the idea of honor.
An example of this is when one man from each household was forced to join the army. When Fa Zhao being told he was chosen due to him being the only male in the household, Fa Zhao told the council “it will be a great honor to fight”.Another example of honor is before Mulan was sent to the matchmaker Fa Zhao tells Mulan “we are counting on you to uphold the family honor” meaning they wanted Mulan to get married to uphold the honor and respect of the family.
In Mulan honor is seen and spoken about a lot from beginning scenes like when Mulan meets the person dressing her up she sings a song saying”trust my recipe for instant bride you’ll bring honor to us all” to the ending scenes like when the emperor of China giving a speech telling Mulan “dishonored the Chinese army” when Mulan was guilty of impersonating a soldier and destroying his palace also when Mulan goes home and gives her father the items she was rewarded Mulan says “They’re gifts to honor the Fa family”.
A Confucianism belief that is also shown besides honor is the obedience to hierarchy. An example of this is when the emperor commanded they enlist more soldiers to the army even though the general believed his troops were strong enough he obeyed to what he was told due to the emperor being of a higher position; when the Chi-Fu told the soldiers to hold back they listened to him because Chi-fu is of higher position if he wasn’t they wouldn’t have held back. In Mulan Confucianism, beliefs are all throughout the movies, for instance, the belief of honor and obedience of hierarchy. Mulan has a very prominent theme throughout the movie and is shown several times throughout the movie as well as being the main reason Mulan impersonated a soldier. filial piety is a belief to respect one’s and take care of your elders.
At the beginning of Mulan is shown caring for her father by telling him while pouring him tea” remember the doctor said 3 cups tea in the morning and 3 at night” showing she takes care of her father. Mulan also sacrifices herself by taking her father’s place in the war due to him being weak. Mulan also shows filial piety by having her family name being respected. Mulan also obeys to her parent’s matchmaking without even asking why they wanted to. The quote “uphold the family honor” is used to reference/illustrate the principle of filial piety.
Another example is in the scene where Chi-fu is calling out the names of households that need a man to enlist a young man decides to take the place of his father sacrificing himself. Filial piety is shown throughout the movie and is one of the reasons Mulan enlisted. Patriarchy is shown in Mulan although it is not as prominent as filial piety and Confucianism,In the beginning of Mulan when her father was enlisted to war she said to Chi-Fu “Please sir my father has already fought bravely..”before being interrupted by Chi-Fun saying”Silence! You will do well to teach your daughter to hold her tongue in a man’s presence” this shows that a woman does not have the power to interrupt or talk in a man’s presence.
Patriarchy is also shown in the roles women have in the movie Mulan cares for her father making him tea and doing house chores while her family plans to marry her off meanwhile the man’s role as in her father was the head of the house and was the only one who could enlist or go to the army. Women who went to the army were accused of deception and were killed. Mulan while being in the matchmaking process sings a song saying” keep my father standing tall” stating the father is the head of the family this also shows filial piety and Confucianism.
In Mulan at the end Shan Yu immediately attacks general Shang instead of Mulan because he views her passive and submissive and that gives Mulan an opportunity to defeat him. Patriarchy is shown various times throughout the movie and is the main reason Shan Yu was defeated by his patriarchal views of Mulan. In conclusion, Mulan is a Disney movie that is based on ancient China directed towards a younger audience. Mulan even though a Disney movie and directed towards a younger audience it carries a lot of historical themes.
Many themes touched by mulan are monarchy by showing the emperor’s commands have no objection and a definite,Confucianism by mulan having to honor the family and the soldiers obeying higher ranking,Filial piety when mulan gives her father tea and does not object to matchmaking ,and patriarch by Chi-Fu telling mulan to be quiet in the presence of a man.Mulan is a movie even though it intended for a much younger audience it is filled with historical themes the may or may not be really easy to find such as filial piety.The more you watch mulan the more you catch on to the historical themes that are throughout the film.
