173: Mulan (with Jeannette Ng)

This week we’re joined by Jeannette Ng, who is kind enough to walk us through the multitude of Mulan stories that span centuries. We discuss cross-dressing in Chinese literature, the political influences of the story, and Mulan’s importance in the Chinese diaspora. Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of cannibalism, war, nationalism, death, suicide, child death, patriarchy, misogyny, social discord/political movements, and sickness/illness.   Guest Jeannette Ng is originally from Hong Kong but now lives in Durham, UK. Her MA in Medieval and Renaissance Studies fed into an interest in medieval and missionary theology, which in turn spawned her love for writing gothic fantasy with a theological twist. She used to sell costumes out of her garage. She runs live roleplay games, performs hair wizardry and sometimes has opinions on the internet, including in Foreign Policy. She has won the Astounding for Best New Writer in 2019 and the Sydney J Bounds Award (Best Newcomer) in the British Fantasy Awards 2018. You can find out more about her work by visiting her website or following her on Twitter.   Housekeeping - Recommendation: This week, Julia recommends Descendant of the Crane by Joan He! Buy a copy and see our new lists of previous recommendations, guest books, and more at spiritspodcast.com/books - Multitude: Join the MultiCrew at multicrew.club, and check out Next Stop in your podcast player or nextstopshow.com!   Sponsors - GC2B is a trans-owned company providing accessible, comfortable, and safe options for gender-affirming chest binding. Use code SPIRITS at checkout for 10% off! - ThirdLove is on a mission to find a perfect bra for everyone. Get 15% off your first order at thirdlove.com/spirits. - EveryPlate is a meal kit with great value. For 6 free meals across your first 3 weeks and free shipping on your first delivery, go to Everyplate.com and enter SPIRITS6.   Find Us Online If you like Spirits, help us grow by spreading the word! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. You can support us on Patreon to unlock bonus Your Urban Legends episodes, director’s commentaries, custom recipe cards, and so much more. We also have lists of our book recommendations and previous guests’ books at spiritspodcast.com/books. Transcripts are available at spiritspodcast.com/episodes. To buy merch, hear us on other podcasts, contact us, find our mailing address, or download our press kit, head on over to SpiritsPodcast.com.   About Us Spirits was created by Julia Schifini, Amanda McLoughlin and Eric Schneider. We are founding members of Multitude, an independent podcast collective and production studio. Our music is "Danger Storm" by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.