Hua Mulan is a heroine who joined an all-male army, described in a Chinese poem known as the Ballad of Mulan. The poem was first written in the Musical Records of Old and New from the 6th century …
Over time, the story of Hua Mulan rose in popularity as a folk tale among the Chinese people on the same level as the Butterfly Lovers. It is one of the first poems in Chinese history to support the notion of gender equality.