1. MULAN: Cultural Assignment • As you watch the video describe 2 examples of each of the following aspects of the culture of Ancient China • Filial Piety • Ancestor Worship • Dragons • Crickets • Similarities to the story of Fua Mulan • Differences to the story of Fua Mulan

2. Filial piety 孝 • The term "filial" (meaning "of a child") characterizes the respect that a child, originally a son, should show to his parents. • This relationship was extended to a series of five relationships • Ruler to Ruled • Father to Son • Husband to Wife • Elder Brother to Younger Brother • Friend to Friend

3. Filial piety 孝 • Specific duties were written down for each of these sets of relationships. • Such duties were also extended to the dead, where the living stood as sons to their deceased family. This led to the veneration/worship of ancestors. • The idea of Filial piety influenced the Chinese legal system: a criminal would be punished more harshly if the culprit had committed the crime against a parent, while fathers often exercised enormous power over their children.. • Filial piety has continued to play a central role in Confucian thinking to the present day

4. DRAGONS The Dragon occupies a very important position in Chinese mythology The origin of Chinese dragons is unknown, but certainly pre-dates the written history. http://www.chinapage.com/dragon1.html http://www.crystalinks.com/chinadragons.html

5. DRAGONS The Celestial/Heavenly Chinese Dragon is comparable as the symbol of the Chinese race itself. Chinese around the world call themselves "Lung Tik Chuan Ren" (Descendents of the Dragon). The Chinese Dragon is look upon as the ultimate symbol of Good Fortune.

6. The Chinese Dragon, or Lung , symbolizes power and excellence, bravery and boldness, heroism and perseverance, nobility and divinity. A dragon overcomes obstacles until success is his. He is energetic, decisive, optimistic, intelligent and ambitious.

7. Unlike the negative energies associated with Western Dragons, most Eastern Dragons are beautiful, friendly, and wise. They are the angels of the Orient. Instead of being hated, they are loved and worshipped. Temples and shrines were built to honor them, for they were believed to control the rain, rivers, lakes, and seas. It is regarded as the Supreme Being amongst all creatures. It has the ability to live in the seas, fly up the heavens and coiled up in the land in the form of mountains.

8. CRICKETS • Cricket Culture in China encompasses a 2000 year history of both singing insects and fighting crickets. Two millennium of tradition may be divided into three eras. • From times prior to the Tang dynasty (500 B.C. – 618 A.D.), people only appreciated the cricket’s powerful tunes. • During the Tang dynasty (618 – 906 A.D.), people started to keep crickets in cages and enjoy their songs while in captivity. • Under the Song dynasty (960 – 1278 A.D.), cricket fighting flourished as a popular sport

9. CRICKETS • Cricket Symbolism: Success • Crickets also are symbolic of success and family size in China. The insects lay hundreds of eggs before dying. Centuries ago, large families were very important to the Chinese, as they were equated with success. To wish someone to have a family like crickets was to wish them success, Jin says. • Cricket Culture: Music • The Chinese believe the crickets make not noise, but beautiful music. Songs have been written around the chirping sounds made by male crickets

10. MULAN

11. Hua Mulan花木蘭is a legend from ancient China and was originally described in a poem known as the Ballad of Mulan (木蘭辭). The historical setting of Hua Mulan is uncertain. The earliest accounts of the legend state that she lived during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534). It is recorded that she was born around Hú Nán Shāng Chūi Shì, a province in northern ancient China that practiced the arts of the sword, as well as fighting and kung fu.

12. As a child, Mulan loved riding horses around her gaff and shooting arrows, as well as reading books about war, as she was from an area dedicated to practicing the arts of fighting. • Mulan was around 18 when she joined an all-male army in place of her father, who was too old, and a younger brother who was still too young. • During her war years, she fought against forces from the Middle East and the Mongolian/nomadic tribes, and was able to claim victory for China for a short period of time. • She was then offered a title, but rejected it and went home where she died of old age.