Messing with a legend

A comedienne's lampoon of Mulan, the folk heroine who masquerades as male, has raised questions about cultural propriety and political correctness.

The tale of Mulan is familiar to every Chinese schoolchild and, through Disney's 1998 animated feature, became known to a significant part of the world.

The young woman who passes as a man and takes the place of her ailing father in military service has been an inspiration for generations of Chinese down through the centuries.