Ancient Mongol warrior women may have inspired legend of Mulan

[Judi Lynn]

Patterns of marks on bones show evidence of archery, horseback riding
JENNIFER OUELLETTE - 4/25/2020, 8:00 AM

The story of Mulan, a young woman who disguises herself as a man to fight for China's emperor, has become one of best known and most beloved narratives worldwide, thanks in no small part to Disney. The Mouse House's 1998 animated film, Mulan, grossed $304 million worldwide and earned Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. The forthcoming live action version—delayed due to the pandemic—looks to exceed that performance when it is finally released. (It is currently slated for July 24, 2020.)

It's long been thought that Mulan was based on actual female warriors of the Xianbei, an ancient nomadic people from modern-day Mongolia and northeastern China. Now, anthropologists believe they may have found physical evidence of such warrior women in skeletal remains found in that region.

The Chinese legend of Mulan first appears in several ancient texts, eventually becoming a folk song, "The Ballad of Hua Mulan," transcribed sometime in the sixth century. It tells the story of a young woman in the Northern Wei era, spanning 386-536 CE, although some details were added later, around 620 CE, during the Tang dynasty. She takes her father's place when each family is required to provide one male to serve in the emperor's army. Hua Mulan serves for 12 years with none of her fellow soldiers ever suspecting her true gender. Later versions of the legend appeared in the late Ming dynasty, followed by a 1593 play by Xu Wei, and the Sui Tang Romance, a 17th century tragic novel by Chu Renhuo. In that, Mulan has a younger sister and bonds with a fellow female warrior named Xianniang.

Christine Lee is an anthropologist at California State University in Los Angeles, specializing in the East Asia region. She had organized an entire symposium at the now-cancelled (thanks, coronavirus!) American Association of Physical Anthropologists conference called "The Hidden Lives of Women," examining archaeological evidence from skeletal remains in hopes of gaining a more accurate picture of the historical roles of women. "Historically, archaeology has been a very male dominated field," Lee told Ars, resulting in a possibly biased traditional interpretation (wives and mothers) of what the lives of women were like.

More:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/04/ancient-mongol-warrior-women-may-have-inspired-legend-of-mulan/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Skeletal damage hints some hunter-gatherer women fought in battles

Traditional views of females being largely responsible for gathering food may be too simplistic

By Bruce Bower

APRIL 27, 2020 AT 9:00 AM

Women’s reputation as nurturing homebodies who left warfare to men in long-ago societies is under attack. Skeletal evidence from hunter-gatherers in what’s now California and from herders in Mongolia suggests that women warriors once existed in those populations.

Two research teams had planned to present these findings April 17 at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. That meeting was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The results have been provided to Science News by the scientists.

Sexual divisions of labor characterized ancient societies, but were not as rigidly enforced as has often been assumed, the new studies suggest. “The traditional view [in anthropology] of ‘man the hunter and woman the gatherer’ is likely flawed and overly simplistic,” says forensic anthropologist Marin Pilloud of the University of Nevada, Reno.

Consider hunter-gatherers who lived in central California as early as around 5,000 years ago as well as more recent Native Americans groups in that region, such as Coast Miwok and Yana. Some archaeological evidence as well as historical accounts and 20th century anthropologists’ descriptions generally portray men in those groups as hunters, fishers and fighters in tribal feuds and conflicts with outside armies. Women are presented as focused on gathering and preparing plant foods, weaving and child care.

More:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/women-warriors-hunter-gatherers-battles-mongolia