Ancient Heroism of Western and Eastern Culture
According to Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, every hero shares the same typical adventure of the archetype. Despite this universal archetype, the heroes of each culture differ according to that culture’s values and beliefs. The river of history flows slowly; every country and every era has its own heroine who is acknowledged in their own ways. In one story of the Bible, a woman named Judith in ancient Israel made the ignominious defeat of the Assyrians; an army bent on world domination. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a similar heroine’s story was recorded in The Collection Yuefu Poems. In antediluvian and war-torn China, hundreds and hundreds of men were called upon to defend …show more content…
in Bethulia and North Wei Dynasty (386-557 A.D.) in China. Therefore, both Judith and Mulan shared similar reasons of their “Call on Adventures”. Both of them were born in the time when some other empires wanted to overrun their homeland. In 2 B.C., the city of Bethulia, where Judith was born and lived, was assailed by Assyrian which was under control of Holofernes. Her village was blocked and there was no way they could elude them. All of the people, both young and old, or men and women were all in great desperation. The bellwether of the village claimed that they were going to surrender in five days since everyone lacked food and water. When Judith heard the wicked words from him, she decided to make her own plan to preserve her people and vanquish the invaders. Consequently, she called people together and promulgated: “I am about to do a thing which will go down through all generations of our descendants…” (“Judith” 289). Judith commenced her peregrination simply because she wanted to save her village and she wanted to shield her people from peril. Hua Mulan experienced a similar call to adventure in the East. During the North Wei Dynasty, the Northern nomadic tribe was continually invaded by the Southern tribe. Therefore, the Khan, the leader of the Northern tribe required at least one man in each family to join …show more content…
Father has no grown‑up son, Mulan has no elder brother. I want to buy a saddle and horse,
And serve in the army in Father’s place” (“The Ballad of Mulan” 9-16).
However, Mulan’s father was very old and ill and she knew that her father would never come back if he joined the army. Meanwhile, her brother was only a small child and was not eligible to join the army. Whereas Mulan wanted her tribe to win the war and get rid of the disturbance of the Southern tribe, she pretended to be her father and joined the army. Looking through two heroines from different cultural backgrounds, it is obvious that both western and eastern cultures endured from successive combats. In brief, similar goals of protecting their families and people were the “calls to adventure” for both Judith and Hua
According to Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, every hero shares the same typical adventure of the archetype. Despite this universal archetype, the heroes of each culture differ according to that culture’s values and beliefs. The river of history flows slowly; every country and every era has its own heroine who is acknowledged in their own ways. In one story of the Bible, a woman named Judith in ancient Israel made the ignominious defeat of the Assyrians; an army bent on world domination. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a similar heroine’s story was recorded in The Collection Yuefu Poems. In antediluvian and war-torn China, hundreds and hundreds of men were called upon to defend …show more content…
in Bethulia and North Wei Dynasty (386-557 A.D.) in China. Therefore, both Judith and Mulan shared similar reasons of their “Call on Adventures”. Both of them were born in the time when some other empires wanted to overrun their homeland. In 2 B.C., the city of Bethulia, where Judith was born and lived, was assailed by Assyrian which was under control of Holofernes. Her village was blocked and there was no way they could elude them. All of the people, both young and old, or men and women were all in great desperation. The bellwether of the village claimed that they were going to surrender in five days since everyone lacked food and water. When Judith heard the wicked words from him, she decided to make her own plan to preserve her people and vanquish the invaders. Consequently, she called people together and promulgated: “I am about to do a thing which will go down through all generations of our descendants…” (“Judith” 289). Judith commenced her peregrination simply because she wanted to save her village and she wanted to shield her people from peril. Hua Mulan experienced a similar call to adventure in the East. During the North Wei Dynasty, the Northern nomadic tribe was continually invaded by the Southern tribe. Therefore, the Khan, the leader of the Northern tribe required at least one man in each family to join …show more content…
Father has no grown‑up son, Mulan has no elder brother. I want to buy a saddle and horse,
And serve in the army in Father’s place” (“The Ballad of Mulan” 9-16).
However, Mulan’s father was very old and ill and she knew that her father would never come back if he joined the army. Meanwhile, her brother was only a small child and was not eligible to join the army. Whereas Mulan wanted her tribe to win the war and get rid of the disturbance of the Southern tribe, she pretended to be her father and joined the army. Looking through two heroines from different cultural backgrounds, it is obvious that both western and eastern cultures endured from successive combats. In brief, similar goals of protecting their families and people were the “calls to adventure” for both Judith and Hua