2.1 The War Background and the Theme

Shanghai，in which the film was made，became a semi-occupied city two years after the start of Japan’s all-out invasion of China in 1937，which was part of the Second World War. The districts there which were formerly controlled by the Chinese government were taken over by Japanese，while the International Settlement and French Concession remained neutral under the governance of Western administration. During 1937 and 1941，Shanghai was called “Solitary Island”，as under the joint control of several imperial countries whose powers were in equilibrium，this city，different from other parts of China which were still at war，got a compared more peaceful and prosperous social development.^[3] This brief stable environment gave the film industry there renewed hope after being destroyed terribly by the “political and economic turmoil”^[4] since 1935. Besides，the potential market for cinemas was enormous in Shanghai at that time. Pointed out by Jiang Boying，“a war weary people needed entertainment as much as they need food”.^[5] Spiritual needs were just as crucial as physical needs all because of the entertainment vacuum created by continuous wars. One example is that the importation of Hollywood films was broke down. Although it was the film-viewers’ nightmare，it provided a chance of development for local producers and cinemas. In this condition，more than two hundred indigenous movies were made in Shanghai in less than four years.

After the attempting in vain to produce some absurd comedies as cover versions of Charlie Chaplin’s and other famous comedians’ works at first，these producers，represented by Zhang Shankun’s Xinhua （New China） film company，turned to focus on the on-going war against intruders and make patriotic films which were later proved to be both critical and commercial successes.^[6] Accordingly，a large group of left-wing progressive scriptwriters，such as E.C. Ouyang and Ke Ling，got a chance to express their passion for the all-out anti-Japanese war and to warn the public against the possible satisfaction with the temporary peace in Shanghai，as most other parts of China were still under violence and chaos. It was a good example of elite discourse that stirred national sentiment. However，under the strict censorship of film implemented by the Japanese，they could not make known these themes directly，and had to use historical stories as shelters. Mulan Joins the Army，one of the representative works of E.C. Ouyang and a masterpiece of Xinhua Film Company during the solitary period，came into birth as a mixture of the pursuit of commercial benefits and patriotic appeals.

Being a skilfully crafted adaptation of The Ballad of Mulan，Mulan Joins the Army emphasizes the war elements of the original text and speaks highly of patriotism，an idea reflected by both the narrative and the music motif. In the film，the reason for Mulan to go to the army is to save the country，while her father’s illness just provides her with the chance. Here the traditional value of filial piety is given a new explanation，that is，as the country is more important than individual home，to fight for the country is a better way of protecting the parents from being hurt. A detail in the plot reflects well this idea. That is，when Mulan knows that the enemy is to launch a major attack，she stops writing the letter to her parents and goes out to reconnoitre. The passionate for the family members makes way for the love for the country. This kind of movement is very rare for a traditional Chinese woman，as in the past，China was a patriarchal society in which family was the whole world of women，as they were asked to follow the rules of Three Obediences and Four Virtues. By describing that even a woman will go out to fence off the enemy，the author intends to stir the audience’s passion and to jolt the whole society into the anti-Japanese war，just as Fu pointed out that，“if women，restricted by tradition and supposedly by physique to a life of domesticity，join in defending China，all men，whose business is in the public sphere，should feel obliged to lay down their lives for national salvation”.^[7] It’s a clever manipulation of traditions concepts to fulfil the crucial personnel needs at war nowadays.

The heroine’s patriotic feeling is also enhanced by her brave and clever activities during the war，which emphasizes that besides mere presence on the battlefield，it’s more important to devote all the intelligence to protecting the country. In order to make clear whether the enemy would launch an attack，she manages to pretend to be a country woman from the opposite side in danger of exposing her real female identity，and finally gains what she needs. When the General hesitates to launch combats against the invaders out of timidity，she sticks to her guns and works together with other officers making good preparation for the upcoming fighting，which ensures the final success of her part. Here the script writer delivers an explicit message that the war can be won if only people can sacrifice themselves with their best endeavours for the country. As a matter of fact，after years of continuous hard struggles against the Japanese invaders which gradually dwindle away the residents’ hope for a clear victory of their side and the unavoidable consequent passive thoughts which could dampen domestic war enthusiasm，the appearance of this movie tries to boost public morale to keep fighting in the darkness before dawn until obtaining the final victory and to try every means to protect their motherland.

Then the use of sound track，especially the two theme songs in the 1939 film，also plays an important part in its emphasis on patriotism. The first song，The Children’s Ballad，appears on the first part of the film，with the sound motif to assert people’s practical movements facing the intrusion of enemies. It is sung loudly by a group of people accompanied by the sound of gang and drum to create a kind of aspiring ambience. The lyrics，such as “hurry up and learn how to fight，so that we will not be afraid of the attackers and send them home”，^[8] express clearly the idea of struggling against enemies. With the popularity of this song in the wake of the film，its war motif is well delivered to the public. The second song，Where is the Moon，which is used at the end，turns out to be an expression of love between Mulan and Liu Yuandu. The main use of it is to enhance patriotism in a different way. That is，by predicting the happy endings of the loyal characters，it helps enhance the audience’s determination to do good things for the country. Besides，it can also help re-establish the public’s confidence in China’s final success in the Sino-Japanese war with a blueprint of shining future. Ever since the Opium War in 1840 until 1939 in which the film was made，China had weathered the heavy burden of varied kinds of wars against enemies from around the world for almost 100 years. The lyrics and rhymes of these theme songs in the film are to pare the public’s possible negative thoughts of future to the bone and bounce back their enthusiasm to keep fighting.

Back in 1937，the Communist Party of China （CPC） and Kuomintang （KMT），two main forces of China agreed on splitting the difference between each other in order to join together for the struggle. However，in January 1939，the Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee of KMT，which was held in Chongqing，the temporary capital during wartime，generated a great deal of controversy. On the one hand，the party’s top leader Chiang Kai-shek named a special committee to limit the development of CPC，its anti-Japanese ally. On the other hand，the conference reached a conclusion that the aim of the war was to regain the domestic condition before 1937 in which Japan controlled the north-east part of China，a decision leading to KMT’s later negative attitude towards the war.^[9] These judgements and its later surrender activities incurred the progressive thinkers’ strong disagreement. A series of movies appearing at that time expressed the authors’ desire to get rid of the evil traitors，such as Mulan Joins the Army （1939），Diaochan，the Beauty （1938）^[10] and Su Wu Herds Sheep （1940）.^[11] Instead of showing patriotic feeling directly，all these film used historical stories as metaphors for current social affairs. The reason is that the whole country was under political strains，as depicted by Poshek Fu，“to avoid provoking the Imperial Japanese Army，which ruled in Solitary Island’s periphery，and to maintain social stability in the foreign concessions，the Shanghai municipal governments prohibited open discussion of political violence and the Japanese invasion”.^[12] The directors had to use all kinds of code words to avoid their works being prohibited by the actual rulers of Shanghai—Japanese.

For example，in Mulan Joins the Army，the scenes of the struggle between loyalists and traitors are added to hint the conflicts between good and evil powers in the anti-Japanese ally. The guilty military counsellor，who sells his nation as a result of the bribe from the enemy，is used to allude to Kuomintang as it holds a negative view in the defence against intruders and intends to share the motherland with them in order to protect its own rule. In contrast，Mulan，being the representative of loyal people，is the incarnation of progressive forces represented by the CPC who call for the security of the whole country. As the counsellor gains the upper hand from the very beginning，Mulan is ignored by the general and can only do the preparation for the war secretly. This reflects a social fact that under Chiang Kai-shek’s military threat，the patriots have to go underground to keep in existence and continue their fighting against antagonists. With the use of these metaphors，the screenwriter E.C. Ouyang intends to give the audience a better inside view of the present social condition，which has much to do with the development of the anti-Japanese war. Moreover，he appeals for the struggle against the disloyal behaviours as only to get rid of those can the good guys have a better chance to do what they can. Later by showing the military counsellor’s sentence to death and Mulan’s success in the battle and promotion to be the general，the film assures the audience of the good endings of loyalty.

In all，as a result of the mixture of political and military elements during the anti-Japanese war，the filmmakers in the besieged Shanghai get a chance to express their patriotic passions using the historical fiction films which are full of metaphors. By adapting Mulan’s story with the emphasis of its war elements，the scriptwriter uses the girl’s experience during her twelve-year military life to reflect the temporary social facts which can help the audience distinguish right from wrong. Besides，the movie also encourages the Chinese to stick to the fighting against enemies by showing the happy endings of the protagonists.