Editing Hua Mulan (section)

==First mentions==
The first written record of Mulan is the '''''Ballad of Mulan''''',{{#tag:ref|Ballad of Mulan: {{zh|first=t|t=木蘭辭|s=木兰辞|p=Mùlán cí|w=Mu-lan tz'u}}|group=note}} a [[folk song]] believed to have been composed during the [[Northern Wei dynasty]] (386–535 CE) and included in an anthology of books and songs during the [[Southern Chen|Southern Chen dynasty]] (557–589 CE). While this anthology is itself lost, significant excerpts, including the Ballad of Mulan, survive in the Song dynasty anthology {{ill|Yuefu Shiji|zh|乐府诗集|ko|악부시집|ja|楽府詩集|italic=yes}} ({{zh|first=t|t=樂府詩集|s=}}).{{#tag:ref|{{Wikisourcelang-inline|zh|乐府诗集}}|group=note}} 

The historical setting of the ''Ballad of Mulan'' is usually the Northern Wei's military campaigns against the nomadic [[Rouran]]. A later adaptation has Mulan active around the founding of the [[Tang dynasty]] ({{circa|620 CE}}).<ref>{{Harvnb|Kwa|Idema|2010|p=12n}}</ref>

The story of Mulan was taken up in a number of later works, including the 17th-century work of historical fiction ''{{ill|Romance of Sui and Tang|zh|隋唐演義}}'',{{#tag:ref|''Romance of Sui and Tang'': {{zh|first=t|t=隋唐演義|s=隋唐演义|p=Suí Táng Yǎnyì|w=Sui T'ang Yen-i|labels=no}}|group=note}} and many screen and stage adaptations.