The Ballad of Mulan
A daughter at her loom hears that her aged father has been conscripted, and buys a horse, saddle, bridle and whip at the four markets to ride to the frontier in his place. Twelve years of campaigning pass in a handful of lines, and the army comes home to be rewarded by the emperor. A sixth-century ballad that has outlived every retelling built on it.
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Lineage
- influenced by ↑ The Classic of Poetry
- shares sources with ↑ Southeast the Peacock Flies
Attributes
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
Plot structure
Heroine's Journey (Murdock)
Emotional arc (story shape)
Quest object (Greimas)
ATU tale type
Symbol / motif
Conflict
Culture / tradition
Closest analogues
- 35% · 8 shared
- 35% · 8 shared
- 35% · 7 shared
- 34% · 9 shared
- 33% · 9 shared
- 33% · 7 shared