How is Taoism represented in Mulan?

Answer 1

Daoism is the philosophy that suggests that one must live simply with little rules, going with the flow of nature and controlling it only when the need is great. In the I'll Make a Man Out of You" song, the lines:

"Tranquil as a forest,

But on fire within.

Once you find your center,

Youaresuretowin.' ;: ;:

as well as the lines: :

"We must be swift as the coursing river,

With all the force of a great typhoon,

With all the strength of a raging fire,

Mysterious as the dark side of the moon."

make comparisons about the qualities of a soldier to nature. During the march where the recruits were singing A Girl worth Fighting For", they are depicted as small beings against the vastness of the mountains and sky in the background. Daoism paintings are often drawn this way to show how inferior humans may seem to nature. When Mulan fires a cannon at the snow-covered mountain to create an avalanche and kill the Hun Army, she was using nature to defeat the enemy. Like a Daoist, she assessed the situation and only took control of it when she found a solution. After Mulan saves the emperor and starts home, the emperor tells Shang that: The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all." He means that a woman who seems like a misfortune ends up to be the best of them all; by comparing Mulan to a flower, the emperor made a Daoist saying. The philosophy is shown almost whenever nature plays a part in the movie.