For the ones who are familiar with Chinese culture,
Kingston’s White Tigers will remind
them of the Chinese ‘Ballad of Mulan’. In the legendary story, Mulan is a
heroine of Han Dynasty who takes her father’s place during the conscription and
disguises herself as a male soldier in the war of countering Hu’s invasion. In
1998, Mulan’s story had been edited as an American animated musical film and was
known for more people from other countries.
However, Mulan is not the only prototype of the
woman warrior. Kingston adds other Chinese legendary elements, such as the
back-carving story of Yue Fei, to enrich the character of the woman warrior.
Yue Fei is a male heroic figure who has four Chinese characters (精忠报国: To
dedicate oneself to the service of one’s country) carved on his back by his
mother. His mother carves the words to inspire him to defeat the enemies and
protect his own country. While in White
Tigers, the woman warrior’s mother carves revenge on her back, also using
it to encourage her to defeat their enemies.
Some sinologists have criticized Kingston for the
distorted Chinese myths and folk stories in her White Tigers. However, Kingston responded to these criticizes that
she took the power she needs from whatever myth. The reason she put the male
hero Yue Fei’s story on the heroine is because she means to take man’s power
for woman.
