Writing Resources
The story of Mulian is perhaps one of the greatest tales from medieval China It tells the story of a girl who disguises herself as a man and goes to war in place of her father In the story the main character Mulian is a virtuous monk who seeks the help of the Buddha to rescue his mother Mulian s mother had been humiliated and condemned to the lowest and most uncomfortable purgatory in Karmic retribution for her sins Dudbridge 26 However Mulian s personal power is inadequate to rescue her mother As a result Budha proposes that he give food and gifts to monks and temples on every 15thof each month which is the date of the Ghost Festivity of the seventh lunar calendar Drawing on from Mulian s commitment to rescue his mother it is apparent that Buddhism conforms to the filial piety found in Confucianism This story reveals a lot concerning the Chinese culture To be more specific the story emphasizes the Xianbei culture military aspects such as the new emperors adopted the Chinese culture to win the approval of the locals Dudbridge 47 The bottom line is that Mulian proves she is both an accomplished soldier and a dutiful Chinese daughter while her society is a combination of a couple of traditions Drawing on Dudbridge Miaoshan was an extremely kind temperate and virtuous person with a strong desire to assist anyone in need Many people believed that she was a holy person because she was born with many birthmarks that were a rare thing in society Mair 1097 She dressed bluntly and was widely known around her home area as the maiden with the heart of a Buddha Notably nearly all who came in contact with Miao Shan were amazed by her goodness and grace which rehabilitated them to a religious life of Buddhism Nonetheless her father seemed to be a completely opposed to her ways Mair 1065
