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Mulan
19th century

Zhou Wenju , (Chinese, active mid-10th century)
Qing dynasty

INk and color on silk
H: 156.0 W: 61.1 cm
China

Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1911.264

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Mulan was an actual woman who, in disguise, answered the military draft for her aged father and served in an all-male army for twelve years. Although her surname, life dates, and birthplace are all uncertain, Mulan’s legend is vividly recounted in the anonymous Ballad of Mulan (Mulan ci). While the heroine has been a familiar character in China for many centuries, her tale was universally popularized through Mulan, the 1998 Disney animated movie based on her story.