花木兰与《木兰辞》

　　“唧唧复唧唧，木兰当户织，不闻机杼声，唯闻女叹息……”这是一首流传很广的北方民歌《木兰辞》的开头，这首民歌的主角是一位英勇的北方女性，叫花木兰，这首长篇叙事诗讲述了花木兰女扮男装替父从军的传奇故事。

　　据说花木兰是北魏人，北方人喜欢练武。花木兰的父亲以前是一位军人，从小就把木兰当男孩来培养。木兰十来岁时，他就常带木兰到村外小河边练武，骑马，射箭，舞刀，使棒。空余时间，木兰还喜欢看父亲的旧兵书。

　　北魏经过孝文帝的改革，社会经济得到了发展，人民生活较为安定。但是，当时北方游牧民族柔然族不断南下骚扰，北魏政府规定每家出一名男子上前线。木兰的父亲年纪大了，哪能上战场呢？家里的弟弟年纪又小，于是木兰决定替父从军，从此开始了她长达12年的军队生活。去边关打仗，对于很多男人来说都是艰苦的事情，更不要说木兰又要隐瞒身份，又要与伙伴们一起杀敌。但是花木兰最后完成了自己的使命，12年后胜利还家。皇帝因为她的功劳，想请她做大官，不过被花木兰拒绝了。

　　千百年来，花木兰一直是受中国人尊敬的一位女性，因为她既勇敢又纯朴。1998年，迪士尼将花木兰的故事改编成了动画片，受到了全世界的欢迎。

　　Hua Mulan and The Ballad of Mulan

　　"Click, click, click. Mulan wove cloth in the house. Yet we could not hear the sound of the shuttle, but the sound of Mulan's sighs……"This is the opening of The Ballad of Mulan, a well-known folk song in north China. The heroine of this ballad was a heroic woman of Northern Wei named Hua Mulan. The song tells how Hua Mulan disguised herself as a man, and joined the army in place of her father.

　　Mulan's father, and ex-soldier, taught his daughter military skills, including horse riding, archery and swordsmanship. Hua Mulan also read her father's books on military science.

　　To ward off incursions by the Rouran nomads, the ruler of Northern Wei ordered that every household provide a man to join an expedition against them. Mulan's father was old then, and her younger brother was too young to go and fight. So Mulan decided to join the army instead of her father. For 12 years, Mulan fought the invaders, successfully maintaining her disguise. In view of her exploits on the battlefield, the ruler of Northern Wei offered Mulan a high official position, but she refused it.

　　Hua Mulan has been highly respected as a filial daughter by the Chinese people for hundreds of years, even though her story might be no more than a legend. In 1998, her story was adapted for an animated cartoon in a Disney amusement center in the United States, to the acclaim of visitors young and old.