Much ado over Hua Mulan about nothing

Comedian Jia Ling has rendered a public apology on her official Sina Weibo account, the country's twitter-like service, after an open letter criticized her for making fun of Hua Mulan, legendary Chinese female warrior, and portraying Mulan as an incompetent, cowardly woman in a TV show, which eventually raised a public storm. The letter, written by an institute specializing in Mulan-related studies, said Jia's show was "nauseating" and demanded she apologize to the people for her actions, especially to the residents of Yucheng in North China's Henan province, which claims to be Mulan's hometown.

But the majority of Chinese netizens seem to disagree with the criticism. According to a recent Sina online survey, 60 percent of the nearly 70,000 respondents said there was no need for Jia to apologize, because comedy shows are all about spoofs and exaggerations.

The story of Hua Mulan has its origin in an ancient folk song, Ode to Mulan, and her surname and birthplace are still uncertain despite the endless debates on them.