Body, cross-dressing, identity: Mulan "in his shoes” in Xu Wei’s play

Abstract

“Four Cries of a Gibbon” (Si sheng yuan) by Xu Wei (1521-1593) presents four plays with varying outcomes that are nevertheless united by the common thread of fluctuating identity. In the last two works, the playwright focuses on the ideas of gender and cross-dressing. In fact, the stories of two heroines are told who, denying their bodies and concealing their identities, don men’s clothing in order to take on more masculine features and thus attempt to participate in activities normally considered purely within the realm of men: wu (martial arts) and wen (literature and the arts). Focusing on wu, this paper examines the work entitled “The Female Mulan Joins the Army in Place of Her Father” (Ci Mulan tifu congjun), inspired by the famous 6th-century poem Mulan shi. Xu Wei builds a narrative plot on Mulan’s transition from woman to man through a series of scenes highlighting her undressing, her unclad body, and the idea of disguising it with a new identity. The denouement is, however, exactly the opposite process, a reacquisition of her feminine looks and role in the family and society. This paper pays particular attention to the unbinding and rebinding of her feet and the preservation of virginity. These elements are crucial to the heroine’s “Confucian” (xiao and jie) character. “In his shoes,” Mulan demonstrates her talent and skills. Her story shows that it is the clothes that make the difference, not the body wearing them. Hinged on the contrast between being and appearing, between what is seen and what is not, this paper reflects on the presentation of the body on stage and the relative audience reaction.