APPENDICES
Summaries of Selected Pre-1949 Plays
Yong’en
A Couple of Hares (Shuangtu ji)
Written by Yong’en. Not listed in earlier bibliographies. The fourth play of the Four Plays of Ripple Garden (Yiyuan sizhong).
This play was composed during the Qianlong period (1736–1795). The “original incident” is found in the yuefu folk song “Poem of Mulan” of the Northern Dynasties period, and in Xu Wei’s The Female Mulan Joins the Army in Place of Her Father (Ci Mulan tifu congjun) of the Ming. This play was written by expanding on Xu’s play. It has forty scenes and consists of two parts.
During the Northern Wei there lives a student by the name of Wang Qingyun (style Sixun), who hails from Quni. He has been engaged since childhood to the daughter of Chiliarch Hua of the same district. Because he has failed the examinations, he feels frustrated and depressed, and therefore leaves home to visit friends. Suddenly, he sees an apparition of Guanyin, who in the blink of an eye changes into a Diamond Warrior, but he cannot figure out what that might mean despite all his efforts.
Chiliarch Hua’s name is Hu, and his style is Sangzhi. His wife is lady Jia. Their eldest daughter is Mulan, who has just turned sixteen. She has studied the martial arts with her father and is well-versed in all techniques. Mulan has a younger brother and a younger sister, but they are still little children. Mulan keeps two hares, one male and one female, but it is impossible to figure out which one is which. One day, as she is spinning by the door, she suddenly sees an apparition of Guanyin in the clouds, who then changes into a Diamond Warrior. Guanyin announces to Mulan that she will be “greatly recognized.” Mulan reaches the following understanding:
A woman’s shape is transfigured into the body of a man
And a man will later become a woman!
The great king of Black Mountain, Bao Zipi [Leopard Skin], is plundering the region of the Yellow River, causing great hardship to the common people. The khan sends out military registers, hoping to draft five thousand crack troops in Hebei. The district magistrate recommends Hua Hu for service. At the behest of the district magistrate, the two battalion commanders Mo Qianzhu and He Rugu, carrying the arrow of command of Xin Ping, the commander in chief for the campaign against the west, go to the house of Chiliarch Hua Hu to offer his congratulations and to appoint Hua Hu as the commanding general for the region. It just so happens that Hua Hu is not at home. When Hua Hu returns home and learns of his military appointment, he is very concerned. Hua Hu is over sixty years of age, his strength is failing, and he cannot obey the order. When Mulan sees how advanced in years her father is, she decides to change from her female dress to male attire and to join the army in place of her father. Mulan tells the family servant:
If I do not become the most exceptional woman of my age,
I will have lived this life in vain!
Mulan eagerly makes her preparations by buying a sword and lance and a fine horse. The neighbors bring wine and food to the Hua home to see her off. The servant informs Hua Hu of Mulan’s decision and preparations. Hua Hu is both surprised and ashamed, and he strongly urges Mulan to abandon her decision to join the army. But Mulan has already made up her mind and swears she will go, so Hua Hu can do nothing else but accept her decision. In male attire, Mulan joins the army as the son of Hua Hu. He Rugu and Mo Qianzhu fail to see through her disguise, and when they see the apparition of Guanyin changing into a Diamond Warrior, they do not understand its meaning. Mulan swears an oath, which goes:
My loyalty and filiality depend on this day;
My valor and courage can be compared to those of any man!
When Wang Qingyun learns that Mulan has joined the army, he is filled with admiration, so he loves her only the more, and he makes up his mind to wait until Mulan returns home from the campaign in order to marry her. Hua Hu urges Student Wang to find another wife, but the latter is unwilling to do so, and Hua Hu realizes that Student Wang is an extraordinary man.
Vanguard Commander Niu He is a greedy and lustful man, who is equally interested in men and in women. As soon as he has fallen in love with the handsome features of Hua Hu (the assumed name of Mulan), he wishes to have sex, but he is met with an absolute refusal and therefore carries a grudge against Hua Hu.
When the troops have been camping at Gubeikou for half a year, Commander in Chief Xin Ping has still not arrived. The Hua family sends a servant to the army to take Mulan padded clothes and a letter. When Commander in Chief Xin Ping arrives, he orders the troops to advance. Vanguard Commander Niu He is greatly defeated and only escapes with his life when Hua Hu single-handedly comes to his rescue. The commander in chief demotes Niu He and elevates Hua Hu to the rank of vanguard commander.
Xin Ping deploys his troops and officers and orders Hua Hu and his troops to trick the enemy by feigning defeat. The Great King of Black Mountain indeed is taken in, and when the troops lying in ambush rise on all sides, he suffers a great defeat with many losses. Niu loses his life on the battlefield.
When Bao Qianjin, the younger sister by a different mother of the Great King of Black Mountain, hears how handsome Hua Hu is, she falls in love with him. She then orders her elderly maid to change into male dress and go to Hua Hu’s tent in order to deliver a secret letter, in which she promises to collaborate on the inside for a common attack on Black Mountain. At this moment the two armies have already been locked in struggle for eleven years. Just when Xin Ping is filled with worry because he still has not been able to subdue the enemy, it is reported that Hua Hu requests an audience. Hua Hu reports Bao Qianjin’s plan. Xin Ping follows Hua Hu’s advice. Without hesitation he grabs this opportunity and inflicts a great defeat on the enemy. When Hua Hu attacks, he captures alive Bao Zipi and his younger brother Bao Jiuguan. The army returns victoriously, having accomplished its mission after a total of twelve years.
When the Son of Heaven of the Northern Wei gives out awards on the basis of merit, Xin Ping is appointed chancellor, and Hua Hu is appointed secretarial court gentleman. The other officers also receive their rewards. Hua Mulan declines any official appointment as she wishes to return home to wait on her parents. The Son of Heaven admires Hua’s filial piety and awards the hereditary rank of vice general to the Hua family.
Wang Qingyun learns from a border report of Mulan’s merit in battle and visits the Hua family to offer his congratulations.
Hua Mulan takes her leave of Xin Ping and leaves a letter with him in which she explains how she had served in male guise for twelve years. When Xin Ping reads the letter after she has left, he is filled with even greater admiration for Mulan. He reports the matter to the emperor, and the latter shifts her appointment to Wang Qingyun. Wang Qingyun becomes a secretarial court gentleman, and Hua Mulan becomes a lady of the first rank. Hua Hu receives a second rank noble title, and lady Jia becomes a lady of the second rank.
On the way back home, Mulan sees the couple of hares she had kept since childhood running toward her to welcome her. Her younger brother whets a knife and slaughters a pig and a goat to prepare a welcoming meal for his elder sister. When Mulan meets with her parents and siblings, sadness and joy intermingle. She gives five hundred taels of silver to He Rugu and Mo Qianzhu. Mulan changes into female dress, and when she comes out to see them, they are utterly flabbergasted: they had been together for twelve years but never realized that Mulan was a girl.
The Hua family receives the imperial edict: they are covered with glory and everyone is filled with joy.
This play is preserved in a wood-block edition printed by the mansion of Prince Li [Yong’en] of the Qianlong period.
Summary by Zhang Guofeng, in Li Xiusheng, 1997, pp. 554–5.
Chen Xu (1879–1940)
Hua Mulan (1897–1914)
Hua Mulan from Shangqiu has lost her mother at an early age. Her father, Hua Hu, served at court in a military function and reached the rank of chiliarch. But because he had submitted a critical memorial that displeased the emperor, he was dismissed, whereupon he returned to his home village. He is still alive but is already more than fifty. Mulan has a little brother called Yao’er and a little sister called Munan, but both of them are still very young. Because the family is very poor, they rely exclusively on Mulan, who weaves night and day in order to provide for the family’s needs.
When the khan crosses the border on a southern campaign, the emperor issues an edict summoning soldiers to block the enemy. The officials and village heads check the population registers, and every able-bodied male will have to join the army. When Hua Hu falls ill, Mulan weaves a piece of brocade that very night and orders Yao’er to go to the market and sell it, so that they will have the money to cure the father’s disease. Yao’er runs into their neighbor Lin Shou, a sixty-year-old seller of herbs, who is getting ready to join the army; he gives the medicine to Yao’er.
The military rolls list Hua Hu’s name, but Yao’er keeps that information from his father. Hua Hu is filled with desire to protect the country and display his loyalty, so he can only hand the books he has written on military matters to Mulan, hoping that she will study them and teach them to her brother and sister.
Murong Yude, the richest man in Shangqiu, has been smitten by Mulan’s beauty. In order to be able to execute his plans, he wants Hua Hu removed so he can lay his hands on Mulan. He sends a letter to the authorities in which he recommends Hua Hu for a command in the army. Hua Hu is appointed as commander of infantry and cavalry. Twelve missives are sent down, and the village head calls on him to depart for war. Mulan dresses herself as a man and puts on the armor her father used to wear; she studies the military books and practices the martial arts, until she is prepared to join the army in place of her father. She passes an inspection by Hua Hu, who sees that she has a full understanding of military matters, and accepts Mulan’s request that she join the army in his place. He also practices the military arts at home with his daughters and his son. On horseback Mulan wields bow and arrow, sword and lance, and all kinds of weapons, displaying her extraordinary abilities. Hua Hu submits a memorial to the throne, stating that his son Mulan will substitute for him and lead the army into battle. The emperor issues an edict in which he grants his permission and appoints Mulan as commander in chief for the pacification of caitiffs. Heading the troops drafted in Shangqiu, she is to depart for Yanshan.
Cen Jian and other “good fellows of the green forests,” infuriated by the disparity of riches and the corruption in official circles, want to volunteer “to serve the king.” In order to stock up on supplies, having learned that Murong Yude is the richest man in the area and spends money like water, they go and rob him that night. With five thousand strong men and supplies worth a hundred thousand cash, Cen Jian and Guan Tianxiong volunteer to join the army and place themselves under the command of Hua Mulan.
Mulan takes pity on the elderly in the army because of their suffering and orders that all people forty years and over be allowed to leave. By this action she wins great popular support. Mulan takes her leave of her father, brother, sister, and neighbors. On the parade grounds she organizes her troops, and, following an inspection of infantry and cavalry, she divides her troops into twelve battalions and gives the order to depart for the north. During the twelve years of her campaign, reports of Mulan’s victories arrive without interruption, and her family members and the neighbor Lin Shou are overjoyed. Mulan sends a letter from which her relatives learn that her troops are victorious wherever they arrive, that she has already crossed the Yellow River and reached Yanshan, and that she will return with her troops once she has defeated the enemy for good.
From Zuo, 2005, pp. 122–3. This summary is based on the text of the sixteen-scene play published in Shenbao in 1914. A number of acts were published as early as 1897.
Mei Lanfang and Qi Rushan
Mulan Joins the Army (1917)
Hua Mulan hails from Yan’an. Her father’s name is Hu, and she has one sister and one brother. Her younger sister’s name is Muhui; her little brother is still a toddler. Mulan has an extremely filial character. She loves martial arts; when later she is instructed by Hu, her knowledge is doubled.
At this time the world is in chaos. Chinese and barbarians are at war with each other. Battles are fought continuously, with no end in sight. Right then the Turks rebel, and the court orders He Tingyu to lead the troops in a punitive campaign. The village head collects the soldiers on the register to go to the front and join the fighting, and Hua Hu’s name is also listed in the register. But Hu is advanced in years and without strength, incapable of carrying a lance.
Mulan sees how worn with age and decrepit her father is—he definitely is incapable of storming ahead and joining the battle. But to serve as a soldier is a duty of the people, and when it comes to exerting oneself on behalf of the state, there is no distinction between men and women; instead, each should exhaust his or her natural function. If one fearfully hides oneself away, accepts the dispositions of one or two powerful people, only loves one’s village and only cares for one’s children, refusing even to make an effort as light as pulling out a hair, then on what can the state rely with this type of people? But if the state collapses, there will be many things that will turn out to be impossible, even though one would like to enjoy one’s private pleasures within the circle of the family! Mulan considers that, even though she is a woman, her only solution in these troubled times, now that her father is too old and her brother too young, is to go on the campaign as a substitute for her father. This is not a contrived emotion or a false ambition—she hopes to achieve the reputation of a filial daughter and also to make some contribution in order to stimulate those weak-spined men who cling to life. She thereupon requests permission from her parents to go and fight as a substitute for her father.
She serves in the army for twelve years and never displays her original nature. Repeatedly she establishes great merit. When the army returns victoriously, she refuses an official appointment and goes back. Upon her return home, she goes to her own room, discards the military outfit, and once again is a girl!
This summary appeared in Gujin xiju daguan (Zhongwai shuju, 1921), and was reprinted in Dong, 2003, p. 118. A summary of the same play, based on a preserved manuscript titled On Campaign in Place of Her Father (Daifu zheng), was printed in Zeng, 1989, pp. 358–9.
On Campaign in Place of Her Father (Daifu zheng)
When the Turks conduct a raid across the border, He Tingyu is appointed as commander to repulse the enemy, but in successive battles he is defeated again and again. He urgently dispatches people to the region of Yan’an to draft troops. A certain Hua Hu, who lives in Shangyi Village, is listed in the military registers. Because this man is quite advanced in years, his daughter Hua Mulan decides to take on the false guise of a male and to join the campaign in place of her father.
As soon as Mulan approaches the battlefield, she sees a general falling down from his horse and immediately rushes forward to save him, to realize only when she comes up close that it is Commander in Chief He Tingyu. During the campaign Mulan repeatedly establishes great merit, and very soon she is promoted to the rank of general.
One night, as Mulan is making the rounds, she notices that the birds above the enemy camp are flying up in fright. She deduces from this that the enemy is preparing a surprise attack that night. She has her troops hide themselves in anticipation, and the ambushed Turks suffer a decisive defeat. The Turks do not dare violate the border again, and He Tingyu returns to court victorious. He praises Mulan’s merits, and she is appointed secretarial court gentleman. Mulan does not accept her appointment, refusing her office and returning to her home village.
After twelve years of separation from her family, she and her relatives are finally reunited. Because Mulan did not accept her appointment, the court now orders He Tingyu to reward her with rich gifts. When He Tingyu arrives in Shangyi Village and goes to see Mulan, she comes out to greet him in changed dress. Only now does he realize that she is no man. Even more surprised and impressed, he hurriedly returns to the court to ask for appropriate titles and rewards.
The above summary is based on a copy kept at the Beijing Municipal Drama Research Institute. For the original incidents, see chapter 56 of the Historical Romance of the Sui and the Tang.1 The text was composed and performed by Mei Lanfang and Qi Rushan.
A revised version of this script was produced by the modern playwright Ma Shaobo.
Mulan Joins the Army
During the Northern Wei, the Turks conduct a raid across the border. Commander in Chief He Tingyu leads his troops to meet the enemy. Because their military strength is weak, he drafts the officers and troops who had already retired from the ranks and tells them to hurry to the border regions and together stop this foreign humiliation. The name of a certain Hua Hu is listed in the military registers, and when he receives the summons to join the army, his daughter Mulan is weaving at the door. The military missives arrive one after another, and Mulan is deeply concerned that her father, too advanced in years and burdened by illness, lacks the strength to go on a campaign. Moreover, the family lacks a man of suitable age to be drafted. She thereupon decides to join the army in place of her father. Hua Hu initially is unwilling to give his permission and only assents once Mulan has persuaded him with gentle words. Mulan thereupon takes on the false guise of a male and uses the name of her younger brother Muli. Crossing the Yellow River and fording the Black Stream, she hurries toward the border. When Mulan and her men arrive on the battlefield, Commander in Chief He Tingyu is surrounded on all sides by Turkish troops. Only when Mulan and her troops join their forces with He’s troops do they succeed in breaking through the double encirclement, and Mulan repeatedly establishes great merit. After twelve years, He Tingyu and his men finally succeed in crushing the Turks. On the eve of the army’s return, Mulan requests permission to return home and nurse her wounds. When she arrives back home, her father’s hair has already turned white as frost. When they see each other again, joy and sadness are intermingled. He Tingyu is ordered by the king of the Wei to reward Mulan with titles and gifts—he also intends to give his daughter as bride to Mulan. When He Tingyu arrives at the Huas’, Mulan comes out to see him in changed dress. Only then does he realize that she is a girl.
[This summary is based on the] edition printed by the Baowentang in Beijing. Revised by Ma Shaobo. Performed by Du Jinfang and Li Huifang of the Zhong-guo jingju yuan.
For another adaptation of the same play produced and printed in the early 1950s as A New Mulan Joins the Army (Xin Mulan congjun), see Zeng, 1989, pp. 360–61.
Pifu
Joining the Army: On the Road (1932)
A One-Act Play with Arias
Mulan is on her way to join the army in place of her father and is traveling along the high road with a family officer. As the family officer gazes on Mulan, he is overcome by emotions and heaves a sigh:
This country for these last few tens of years;
These mountains and rivers for thousands of miles… .
The Xiongnu have taken up arms,
And if one day their troops cross the border,
They may well, carried on by their victories, arrive at the Phoenix Gate!
Rarest of all is this woman who campaigns in place of her father,
Shaming to death all those many men!
While Mulan is walking along with the family officer she is also observing the great landscape, and she is deeply moved. The family officer asks her: “Young lady, you are an upper-class girl and have spent your life hidden away in the inner apartments. Now you arrive here, in this world of ice and snow. Just look: the earth has cracked and the rocks are broken, and all plants and trees have shriveled. How can you bear this?” Mulan replies: “Since ancient times those who live in the inner apartments would not leave the gate, but how can the past be a model for the present now that the country is in chaos? Look at these rivers and mountains like embroidered brocade—in the blink of an eye they may turn into foreign territory. So why talk about ‘upper-class’? I am afraid I will then be trampled like all others!”
While they are talking the hour of dusk, when tired birds return to their nests, arrives. The two of them come to a village, where they find some empty rooms to stay for the night. When the family officer sees how desolate the place is, he warns Mulan that there might be evil people around, so they’d better move on. But Mulan does not agree with him: “We who join the army should see it as their first duty to remove bullies and bring peace to the common people, so why should we fear evil people?” Mulan goes to sleep, and the family officer keeps watch. When he discovers Wang Qiang and Chen Xiang, two robbers who steal from the rich to give to the poor, he loudly calls the alarm. Mulan wakes up and confronts the robbers. She steps up to them and advises them in loyal words: “Now the country is in chaos, the king employs robbers and capable men. If you are willing to risk your life on the battlefield, burn your mountain strongholds and follow me in joining the army… . Sacrifice yourself for the sake of the poor! How can you bear to bring harm to your compatriots, relying on your martial skills and sharp weapons that kill people?” The two robbers Wang Qiang and Chen Xiang are moved by Mulan’s sincere and loyal words and declare: “Sir, you are a man who is determined to save the country. How would we dare disobey your good words? Allow us to be your grooms, so we can pay you back for your enlightening advice.” So on the road to joining the army, she acquired two more heroes.
Summary based on text in Wenyi zhanxian 30 (17 October 1932), in Dong, 2003, p. 569.
Ouyang Yuqian
Mulan Joins the Army (a Guiju) (1942)
The interregnum between the Sui and the Tang. Hua Mulan from the Hua family village in Yan’an Prefecture, while out hunting, passes by the Zhang family village. When some young bullies create trouble for Mulan, they are defeated by her. (Scene 1)
Grasping the opportunity of a civil war between the Sui and the Tang, Khan Hali raises a million troops to invade the Central Plain, aiming to clean out the Jiangnan area. (Scene 2)
At noon, Mulan enters [her home], carrying the game she has shot. Her mother tells her to weave silk, but Mulan’s thoughts are on saving the country and saving the people. The village head brings the military order telling Hua Zhifang to join the army that very day as he has been drafted, in order to block the advance of the foreign country. Mulan’s father has fought in the army all his life, and he is also advanced in years and beset by illness, so Mulan proposes that it would be best if someone replaces him. As her little brother is still too young, Mulan dresses as a young military officer and requests to join the army in place of her father. Her father teaches her how to use the lance. (Scene 3)
An inn on the bank of the Yellow River. Hua Mulan and other people on their way to join the army are drinking wine. When Wang Si and Zhou Pao try to take advantage of Mulan because she is still so young, Liu Yuandu is filled with indignation. Mulan hits an “iron horse”2 hanging from the eaves with a stone pellet, and all are overawed by her skill. Wang Si and Zhou Pao ask to become her students, and with Liu Yuandu they plan to travel together to Yan’an to join the troops. Wu Cheng arrives at the inn escorting the prisoners Li Yuanhui, Huang Sheng, Zhang Biao, and Zhao Rulong. While he himself drinks merrily he doesn’t care whether these condemned men live or die. Mulan steps up to him and intervenes, and she also gives money to provide the prisoners with food. She also urges them to fight the enemy. When the others have fallen asleep, Liu Yuandu and Mulan make small talk, but she does not allow him to raise personal matters. (Scene 4)
Khan Hali leads his barbarian troops on an attack across the Great Wall. When he learns that the commander in chief of the border passes has died, he continues toward the Central Plain. (Scene 5)
When Mulan and her companions run into scattered troops and refugees, they learn that the commander in chief has died. Wu Cheng wants to kill the prisoners and run for his life, but Mulan saves the prisoners. The prisoners volunteer to follow her to the border pass to fight the enemy, but Liu Yuandu suggests that they return to the pass in the second line of defense to collect the dispersed soldiers. Mulan lays out their strategy, and all swear to follow her even into death! (Scene 6)
The barbarian troops march toward the second pass. (Scene 7)
At the pass of the second line of defense, Liu Yuandu has collected five thousand troops, and Li Yuanhui has brought in the army supplies. All agree to appoint Mulan as general. Mulan gives her orders to her troops in preparation for the enemy attack. The barbarian troops are foiled by the “empty city trick”; when they do enter the gate, they are surprised by the soldiers lying in wait. Mulan hits Khan Hali with a pellet on his left thigh, but he manages to escape. (Scene 8)
Mulan’s parents are concerned about Mulan. Mulan has a letter-goose3 deliver a letter, in which she tells them that she has led the troops in battle, and the emperor has appointed her as commandant to guard the border passes. (Scene 9)
The enemy has increased its troops. Mulan increases discipline, as she wants her army to win the final battle. When Mulan and Khan Hali meet on the battlefield, he hits Mulan in her thigh with an arrow after a treacherous shot. Liu Yuandu and Li Yuanhui save Mulan from danger. (Scene 10)
When Mulan and her companions arrive in front of a hill, Mulan wants them to return and fight the enemy, so she uses all her strength to pull the arrow out, whereupon she faints. Liu Yuandu returns to block the pursuing enemy, while Li Yuanhui dresses Mulan’s wound. Khan Hali and his troops search for Mulan; but, he is led away from her by Zhang Biao and his fellow prisoners. Despite her wound, Mulan observes the battle, and by beating the drum she boosts morale, fighting off the enemy. (Scene 11)
Mulan sleeps in her tent, where two maids are waiting on her. Liu Yuandu and Li Yuanhui, who both have been wounded, come to see her. Ever since he dressed her wound, Li Yuanhui has been aware of the true situation, and these last few days his mind has been in a daze, so he leaves under the pretext of doing the rounds of the camp. Liu Yuandu does not understand why Mulan only wants to be served by maids and does not allow him to come close. But when he hears Mulan’s sighs in her tent, he realizes that she is a woman in male disguise, and he becomes even more loyal to her. When Mulan wants tea, he enters, bringing her some tea, but Mulan tells him that in the future he is not allowed to enter her tent unless called for: he’ll be beheaded if he goes against that order! (Scene 12)
The local elders arrive with gifts for the troops. Mulan urges her officers to protect the state. It just so happens that the enemy troops are tired and short on supplies, so Mulan orders the army to counterattack. (Scene 13)
The barbarian soldiers long for home and their morale is at a low. A spy reports that Hua Hu has died and the Tang troops are retreating. Khan Hali orders his troops to pursue and kill them. Mulan, in the disguise of a blue-faced devil, meets Khan Hali on the battlefields. She leads him to a dead-end valley, where he is thoroughly defeated. (Scene 14)
Khan Hali leads his troops as they flee for their lives. Mulan leads her troops in pursuit. (Scene 15)
Soldiers and civilians celebrate their victory over the enemy, and Mulan proposes to inscribe the commemorative stele with the four characters Zhonghua shengli [China Victorious]. (Scene 16)
In front of Mulan’s tent. After twelve years of battle, Wang Si and Zhou Pao have become somewhat disappointed. When Mulan, having had some wine, returns, she is overcome by loneliness. Liu Yuandu feigns drunkenness to test her feelings, by saying that he is in love with a girl but does not dare speak to her. Mulan tells him not to act improperly—in due time a Chang’e will descend from the sky for him. (Scene 17)
Wang Si and Zhou Pao meet with Li Yuanhui. Li Yuanhui wishes to spend the rest of his life on the border. (Scene 18)
Mulan’s family welcomes her back home. A matchmaker arrives to arrange a marriage for Commander in Chief Hua. Wang Si and Zhou Pao also ask the matchmaker to arrange matches for them. (Scene 19)
Mulan is making her toilette in front of the window and narrates to her father how she conducted affairs. Mulan’s father brings Liu Yuandu in and tells him that the commander in chief wants to arrange a marriage for him. From behind a curtain Mulan tells him that she wants her cousin to become his wife, but Liu Yuandu refuses. When Mulan appears from behind the curtain, she asks him whether he recognizes her. Only then does he recognize Mulan. Mulan and Liu Yuandu are married and become a happy couple. (Scene 20)
From Dong, 2003, p. 1260. The summary is based on the edition of the play in Ouyang, 1980, vol. 2.
Translated by Wilt L. Idema
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1This appears to be a mistake. The play more likely derives from A Couple of Hares by Yong’en.
2 Windchimes.
3 A messenger bird.