Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend, with Related Texts ed. and tran. by Wilt Idema, Shiamin Kwa (review)

CHINOPERL Papers No. 30 (2011)©2011 by the Conference on Chinese Oral and Performing Literature BOOK REVIEWS Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend, with Related Texts. Edited and translated by Wilt Idema and Shiamin Kwa. Indianapolis, Hackett Publishing, 2010. Xxxii + 136 pp. Cloth $39.50; Paper $12.95. :LOW ,GHPD DQG 6KLDPLQ .ZD¶s Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend, with Related Texts is the fifth collection of translations of classic texts published by Idema in an effort to make Chinese popular literature available to English-speaking audiences. This volume on Mulan will be particularly useful as a resource for teaching, given the widespread SRSXODULW\RI0XODQDV³WKHPRVWUHFRJQL]HG&KLQHVHIRONWDOHKHURLQHLQ WKHZRUOG´ S[LL 7KHQDPHRIWKHSUROLILF:LOW,GHPDZLOOEHNQRZQWR most anyone interested in traditional Chinese literature. Shiamin Kwa is a graduate of Harvard, presently teaching at Rice University, who wrote a dissertation on Xu Wei ᗀ⑝ (1521±93), author of one of the versions of the Mulan story collected in this volume. ,GHPDDQG.ZD¶VVWXG\EHJLQVZLWKDFRPSUHKHQVLYHLQWURGXFWLRQWKDW outlines shifts in the Mulan legend, ranging from the earliest extant versions of the 12th century up to the present day. It includes English WUDQVODWLRQV RI WKH ³3RHP RI 0XODQ´ ³0XODQ VKL´ ᵘ㱝䂙; undated),³6RQJ RI 0XODQ´ ³0XODQ FL´ ᵘ㱝䗝; 8th century), the Ming Dynasty (1368±1644) play, The Female Mulan Joins the Army in Place of Her Father (Ci Mulan ti fu congjun 䳼ᵘ㱝ᴯ⡦ᗎ䓽; 16th century); the traditional opera, Mu Lan1 Joins the Army (Mu Lan congjun ᵘ㱝ᗎ䓽; 1903); and the popular film, Mulan Joins the Army (Mulan congjun ᵘ㱝 ᗎ䓽; 1939). In addition, the volume contains two appendices on pre-1949 plays and Qing dynasty (1644±1911) novels based on the legend, 1 In this play, unlike other versions of the story, Mu is taken to be her surname (p. xxxiii). CHINOPERL Papers No. 30 268 respectively,2 as well as a bibliography of English and Chinese language studies on Mulan.3 The carefully selected translated texts shed light on how the legend has been transformed over time in response to changing cultural, political, and gender norms, and illustrate how it has been adapted into a variety of genres, including poetry, fiction, drama, and film. The first two versions of the Mulan legend are drawn from the Collected Works of the Music Bureau (Yuefu shiji ′ᓌ䂙䳶; 12th century). :KLOHWKH³3RHPRI0XODQ´ZDVZULWWHQE\WKH7DQJdynasty (618±907) official, Wei Yuanfu ䷻‫⭛ݳ‬ (fl. 8th century), according to the Collected Works of the Music Bureau¶V compiler, Guo Maoqian 䜝㤲ٙ (1041± 1099), the undated and DQRQ\PRXV³6RQJRI0XODQ´LVWDNHQIURPWKHQR longer extant text Musical Records, Old and New (Gujin yuelu ਔӺ′䤴; 6th century). Although there are already a variety of available English WUDQVODWLRQVRIWKH³6RQJRI0XODQ´E\SODFLQJWKLVSRHPLQGLDORJXHwith WKH ³3RHP RI 0XODQ´ .ZD DQG ,GHPD GUDZ DWWHQWLRQ WR LPSRUWDQW differences between the earliest extant versions of the legend. In particular, the Tang d\QDVW\ ³3RHP RI 0XODQ´ UHIOHFWV WKH LPSDFW RI &RQIXFLDQ ideology in its treatment of Mulan as a paragon of filial piety, an emphasis QRWIRXQGLQWKHHDUOLHU³6RQJRI0XODQ´ .ZD¶VDGHSWWUDQVODWLRQRI0LQJd\QDVW\VFKRODU;X:HL¶VThe Female Mulan Joins the Army in the Place of Her Father will undoubtedly be a hit among undergraduate readers. Kwa uses lively colloquial English, LQFOXGLQJZRUGVVXFKDV³ZHLUG´ S DQG³KHOWHU-VNHOWHU´ S . Also, she attempts to keep the rhyme found in the original. For example, at the HQGRIWKHSOD\0XODQVLQJV³:KRZDVLWUHDOO\RFFXSLHG%ODFN0RXQWDLQ Top?/ TKH JLUO 0XODQ ZHQW WR ZDU IRU KHU SRS´   ,Q DGGLWLRQ .ZD includes entertaining extra material such as this note from the earliest SULQWHGHGLWLRQ³:KHQ0XODQWULHVRXWDZHDSRQDQGFKDQJHVFORWKHVDQG shoes, she absolutely must do wonderful kicks and jumps. When each part RIWKHVWDJHZRUNLVGRQHWKHQVKHZLOOVLQJRWKHUZLVHLWZLOOEHDPHVV´ S .ZD¶VWUDQVODWLRQKHOSVWRVKRZKRZWKHOHJHQGZDVDGDSWHGIRU traditional opera to feature QRWRQO\³ZRQGHUIXONLFNVDQGMXPSV´EXW...