In an original Mulan story that was published in 1675, Mulan was to become a concubine, but instead, she committed suicide. WTF? We’ve become used to Disney sanitizing classic tales to entertain a wider audience, but WTF? The ending of Mulan in this version of original story is rather dark, so we can understand why they left it out, unlike the infamous Tom and Jerry suicide episode that aired.
The original Mulan story dates way back to the 6th century AD. It was originally a ballad, however the first written records of the poem have been forever lost to time. But like many stories that have been around for quite some time, they morph and evolve, gaining or losing many aspects in the process. By the time Chu Renho had penned the story familiar to many, it had acquired many new plots, characters and twists, even though much of the story remained the same. But Disney decided to butcher it, as only Disney can.
In the popular Disney film, Mulan joins the army in place of her father in a similar fashion to the original tale. In both stories they become great warriors, and that’s where many of the similarities end. The movie length feature by Disney has her save the day, the Emperors life, offered a role as an adviser (which she refuses, she return home to her loving father and builds a loving romance with Li Shang. Oh how Disney. All’s well that ends well, and everyone lives happily ever after. Hogwash! The original Mulan story plays out more like a Shakespeare tragedy than a Shakespeare comedy.
In one of the original Mulan stories, the romance titled Sui Tang Yanyi , which is the most popular version of Mulan, Chu Renho created an ending that the Grimm brothers would have been proud of. There was no happy reunion with her father, no romance at the end, and quite frankly, no Mulan at the end either. It was far from a happy ending for the heroine.
The tragic ending of the original Mulan story, summoned to become a concubine, soon followed by death and suicide.
Now it’s time to get to the nitty gritty. Mulan was living under the rule of the Turkic khan. The Turkic Khan joined forces with Emperor Li Yuan (founder of the Tand dynasty). This allegiance required all families to send one male to war, so Mulan joined the military in the place of her father.
She was intercepted by a petty king by the name of Dou Jiande and eventually became great friends with the warrior princess Xianniang, the daughter of the king. Things turn sour when Dou Jiande betrays the Emperor, and both Mulan and the princess are sentenced to death in his place. But they are spared and Mulan is given leave to return to her home.
Now things are seeming pretty OK so far, right? Not too messed up or disturbing? Chu Renho threw in some twists that M. Night Shyamalan would be proud of. When she returned home to greet her father and mother, she discovered that her father was long dead. Disney never told us that, in fact he was happy and healthy. But that’s not all. Apart from discovering a dead father, her mother had remarried. Things were certainly not piecing together too well for Mulan. But lo and behold, more misfortune was on the way.
Mulan ordered to be a concubine, but commits suicide instead
After discovering that her father was dead, he mother remarried, the Turkic khan had ordered Mulan to become a concubine in his palace. For those who don’t know what a concubine is, it’s basically a sex slave! Now, the Disney version did see Mulan briefly dress as a concubine, but that’s as far as this similarity goes. Rather than face the humiliating fate of becoming a concubine, Mulan commits suicide. Clearly Disney was never going to include such a sad ending, but it sure sounds interesting.
If you found this fact interesting you might like:
- The real Peter Pan committed suicide
- Peter Pan killed the Lost Boys. Find out why
- Was Donald Duck banned in Finland?
- Scrooge McDuck died in 1967. How old was he?
