The Ballad of Hua Mulan

I sat on the ground outside weaving a basket, occasionally glancing up at my father who was pulling weeds out of the garden. After a while he stood up and as he did he groaned in pain. I instantly put down my basket as I walked over to my father, helping him stand up.

“Are you alright, father?” I asked worriedly. He nodded.

“Yes,” he replied, but he only had to have one look at me to tell that I didn’t believe that. “Don’t worry about me, I’m just getting a bit old.”

He gave me a smile to put my mind at ease, but for the rest of the day I still worried about him. Not because he was getting old, but because of what I saw when I was in the market this morning getting rice. A proclamation issued by the Khan, our ruler. China was under attack by the Rouran’s. To fight off their armies the Khan decreed that a man from every family must join the army to fight of the invading forces. As I read the names of all the families my throat tightened and my stomach knotted as I read my family name. My father was the only male in our family, except for my little brother, but he was only eight years old. My father was too old to fight. He could no longer move with the swiftness he could when he was younger, and he was no longer as strong as he was when he was younger. Everyday tasks were hard for him, and I just knew he couldn’t fight in the war. He would surely die before he ever saw battle. But the proclamation said that one male from every family must join the army. There was no exceptions, and no one could defy the Khan; the penalty for that was death, but what did it matter anyways? Father was doomed either way.

“Lifen!” my father called out for my mother from the garden. “Can you get my walking stick? I’m going to the market to get some rice seeds.”

I jumped up, causing my basket to fall to the ground, but I couldn’t be bothered with that right now. I ran over to my father and grabbed his arm.

“I can go to the market for you, father. It would be faster!” I offered. I couldn’t let him see the proclamation. I knew sooner or later he would have to know, but maybe if I had more time to think about the situation I could think of a way to keep him from having to join the army. There had to be a way to save him.

“Are you sure Mulan? Your mother wants that basket finished by the end of today,” he said, casting a glance at my half-finished basket lying in the grass.

“I can finish it,” I insisted. My father gave me a skeptical look before shrugging.

“Alright,” he said. Suddenly my mother walked out with my fathers cane in her arms.

“Never mind Lifen, Mulan offered to go to the market for me,” he said. My mother frowned and let out a huff before walking back inside with the cane. I picked up a basket from the house and set off for the market. While I walked along I thought about the proclamation. Every man was called to be at the training camp in two weeks time. I had two weeks to think of a way to keep father out of the war. Surely that would be enough time, right?



12 Days Later…

I picked up my bow and put an arrow in it, taking a few seconds to aim before letting go of the string. It flew through the air before hitting a little bit below the intended bulls-eye on the haystack. I cursed under my breath as my little brother Chi came running up to me with an apple in his hand.

“Hey Mulan, if I stand over there next to the haystack, and I put this apple on my head, can you shoot an arrow through it?” he asked excitedly.

“Yeah, probably,” I said with a shrug. Chi ran over to the haystack and placed the apple on his head as I picked up an arrow and put it in my bow.

“Now hold real still, Chi,” I said as I drew my bow back.

“MULAN!” a voice screeched. I whipped around to see my mother standing in the doorway, hands on her hips. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Chi wanted me to shoot an apple off of his-” I started to explain but she cut me off.

“I don’t care what Chi asks you to do! You are sixteen years old! You should know better than this!” I took the arrow out of my bow.

“Sorry mother,” I said, looking down at the ground. I looked back at Chi to see him take the apple off of his head with a disappointed look on his face.

“If I see you aiming at your brother again I’ll take your bow away for a month!” she scolded me before turning to go back inside. Chi took a bite out of the apple as he walked over to me and stood next to me.

“Sorry I got you in trouble,” he said.

I shrugged. “It’s alright.”

“Mulan,” he started. “I was watching Xian Li a few days ago and he hit an apple from a fence post from over ten yard away!” Chi exclaimed as I picked up an arrow and put it in my bow.

“Ten yards? I once hit an apple from a tree branch from twenty yards away,” I said as I pulled my string back and aimed.

“Wow…” Chi breathed, then looked up at me, “How do people get so good at archery like that?”

“Well, two things really. Lots and lots of practice or…” I released the arrow and it flew into the middle of the target on the haystack. “Naturally good aim.”

“Which one are you?” Chi asked.

“A bit of both,” I confessed. “Even if you have all the skill in the world, you’ll never be very good without practice, and even if you practice from the time till the cock crows till the time when the cock crows again, you’ll never be good unless you have at least a little bit of good aim.”

I learned how to do archery when I was little. My father had always hoped for a boy, so when I was born three years after my older sister and I showed an interest in the bow and sword he took it upon himself to teach me everything I needed to know. When Chi was born eight years later my father was happy, but he was too old to teach him everyday like he had done with me, so I taught my little brother sword fighting and archery every morning before the cock crowed. He showed promise in sword fighting, but didn’t seem to care much about archery.

I smiled at my bulls-eye before turning to look at the garden where my father was to see if he’d seen it. I raised an eyebrow in confusion when I saw that he wasn’t there. He’d been there when I started practice about half an hour ago.

“Mother!” I called out. She appeared at the doorway a moment later. “Where is father?”

“He went to the market a while ago to get some more seeds for the garden,” she answered, then she saw the panicked look on my face. “Don’t worry, he should be back very soon.”

“What’s wrong, Mulan?” Chi asked. As I opened my mouth to tell him I saw my father stumble into the yard, holding the sign from the marketplace. He had a look of fear on his face.

“Lifen!” he called out. When my mother saw the look on his face she frowned in concern and rushed over to him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, worried. I looked back at the entrance to see Lihua, my older sister coming out to see what all the commotion was about.

“I went to the market and saw this proclamation from our Khan…” he started. Oh no, I was going to be in so much trouble. I quietly put my bow down and tried to sneak to the back of my house but my father spotted me before I could.

“Mulan!” he called out, and I turned around to see the betrayed look on his face. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Before I could answer Lihua interrupted me.

“What does it say, father?” she asked, rushing over to us. He cleared his throat before reading it as the family crowded around him to see it for themselves. I stood back; I already knew what it said.

“By the Khan
A Proclamation:

A man from each family in every providence in China between the ages of thirteen and seventy is called to defend his family and his fellow countrymen from the invading armies of the Rouran’s.

Here are the family names:”

After this it listed every family name in our area, then it had one last message.

“A man from every family is expected to show up at the army camp along the Yellow River for training in two week’s time at noontime.”

Then it had the King’s signature and ink stamp at the bottom, validating it.

"This was posted 12 days ago, and I must be at training camp in two days," he said to my mother. Then he turned to me.

“Mulan, why didn’t you tell me? I could have had time to prepare!” he said, and I could hear the disappointment in his voice.

“Father, you’re not actually going to go, are you?” I asked in disbelief.

“I have to Mulan, we have only one son, and Chi is too young to go and fight in my place. It is a proclamation by our Khan, it cannot be ignored!” When father saw the terror on my face he forced a smile. “I will be fine, Mulan. I have fought in a war before, I know what to do.”

“But that was years ago, father! You are much older now, and unable to fight!” I could see in his eyes that he knew this, but he was unwilling to admit it. “Father, you could die!”

“If I do, I will not regret dying to protect my family,” he said calmly.

“But father-”

“Mulan, we have no other choice,” he said firmly, cutting me off. I took a deep breath and said the first thing that came to my mind; my mother always told me this was always my greatest folly.

“Yes we do, father.”

He raised a questioning eyebrow. “And what is that?”

“I could go in your place,” I said with determination. Lihua giggled under her breath and Chi started laughing before father shot them both a cold stare. They immediately stopped laughing and father turned back to me.

“But I could!” I defended myself. “I could cut my hair, and in your armor no one would realize that I’m a girl an-” Father cut me off.

“No, I will hear none of this nonsense! You are a woman, you have your duty here, at home,” he said.

“Mother and Lihua are capable of managing the household if I went!” I reminded him.

“Mulan, as you were growing up I let you do things not many young women would be allowed to do. I let you take up the bow and the sword; I let you train your brother in the ways of the sword, and I let you grow up wild and free like a beautiful flower, but I cannot let you go and fight in my place in the army. That is the one thing I will not let you do!” He turned to leave after he said this, hobbling back to the house. He could barely walk, how could I let him ride off to his death?

“Father, wait!” I called out to him. He turned around with a frown. I took a deep breath. “Father, please let me go in your place. I stand a better chance than you-”

“You think you can do better in the army than me?” he interrupted me with a scowl, and I nodded.

“Alright, I’ll offer you a deal. If you can beat me at sword fighting-right here, right now-then I’ll let you go in my place and serve in the army…but, if I beat you, then you must stay at home and never say another word about this joining the army again, is that clear?”

“Yes, father,” I said.

“Do I have your word, Mulan?”

“Yes, father. You have my word,” I said with a respectful bow. He nodded and turned to my mother who was watching from the porch with a nervous look on her face.

“Lifen, bring us each a sword from my room,” he ordered her. Mother nodded and rushed inside the house. A few seconds later she rushed back out, carrying to swords. She handed my father one, then gave me the other one. Mother grabbed my brother and sister’s arms, pulling them a safe distance away from us. I took a deep breath as I pulled my sword out of it’s sheath.

I got in a fighting position as my father unsheathed his sword and got in the same position. My father nodded at me to make the first move, but I remained still. I didn’t want to hurt my father, how could I make the first move? I knew that if I tired him out I would win, but I never intended to make the first strike. After a few minutes he let out a grunt and lunged forward, swinging his sword at my right shoulder. I brought my sword up and blocked his strike before taking a swing at his leg to make him fall.

He jumped over my blade and stumbled when he landed back on the ground. I stopped for a moment to see if he was ok when he suddenly jumped back up and swung at my shoulder again. I quickly ducked and swiped my sword across his chest, tearing his tunic in the process and drawing a little bit of blood. He leaned over and clutched at his chest before grabbing the sword with both hands again and swinging at my legs. I jumped over his sword and swung at his shoulder. He quickly raised his sword and blocked my attempt, then gave a hard shove to my sword with his and I stumbled back. He took the opportunity to lunge at my torso, but I quickly deflected his sword.

We continued to fight for a few minutes, and I continued to block his attempts and I could see it was tiring him out. I noticed a sheet of sweat forming on his forehead. It was time to end this fight. I raised my sword and aimed for his knees, sending his reeling back as he blocked my attempt. He looked up at me with frown before raising his sword above his head and letting out a loud cry. He lunged forward, trying to strike me wherever he could and it took all I had just to block his every attempt. I could feel myself losing my grip on my sword when my father raised his sword and with a loud cry swung down at my shoulder. I raised my sword to defend myself, but I underestimated the strength of his attack and his hit sent my sword flying to the ground. I was caught off balance and tripped and fell backwards. I gasped as I looked up at my father who had his sword pointed right at my chest. He kept it there for a few minutes before drawing it back and slipping it back into it’s sheath. I sat there in the dirt, staring at his with my mouth open wide. Where was all this coming from? The last time we sparred I’d won easily, and I’d been practicing a lot since that last time.

“How did you-” I started to ask, but he cut me off.

“I may have taught you everything you know, but I haven’t taught you everything I know,” he said as he panted. I was breathing heavily myself, but I had better control of my breathing than he seemed to.

“I won,’ he finally said, walking back to the house. “You must stay here.”

“But father-” I started to protest. Maybe we could have a re-match, or maybe I could challenge him to beat me at archery. There had to be a way to still save him! My father turned around with an angry look on his face.

“No, Mulan! I will hear no more! You have lost, and you gave me your word you would stop talking about joining the army in my place if I won. You must now be true to your word and keep your promise!” he snapped at me. I tore my eyes away from him. He was right, he always was. I was always taught to keep my word and do what I said I would, even when it was hardest. My father turned back around and walked into the house, leaving my family there in the silence. I looked down at the ground as tears filled my eyes. My one chance to save my father from a cruel death and I blew it! I was a horrible daughter.