Disney Movie Mulan & The Hans

[iar]

Hi,

I was watching Disney's Mulan the other day. In the movie they say that the hans are invading. And I thought that was strange because I read that Chinese people are called hans, hence they speak hanyu - han speech. So I am wondering what this is all about; are they talking about different hans in the movie and if so why would they call them the same thing - that's kinda strange. Who are these Hans in the movie?

Thanks

iar

[edelweis]

Hi.

Regarding the Han, they're one of the 56 official ethnic groups in China. So you can be Chinese and not be a Han.

As to the Mulan movie, please look at the wikipedia page. It seems (in the Disney movie at least) Mulan is a Han, the invaders are Hun.

[Hofmann]

They said "Huns." The setting of the Disney movie is...bizarre. The Wikipedia page says it's the Han Dynasty, while the ballad suggests Northern Wei. In any case there were no Huns.

[陳德聰]

There were no Huns... ?

[Lu]

Also nice that the Big Bad is called Khan, while Mulan's horse is called Shanyu. Which is Chinese for Khan. Who knows how many people, knowledgable and not, messed with that movie before it was finished.

The Xiongnu, who were a threat to China during the Han, are sometimes thought to be the same people as the Huns who ransacked Rome (after being driven away from China). I'm not sure who Mulan fought, in the Chinese stories it wasn't the Xiongnu I think.