Mulan’s doting father taught her to read and write, a gesture that raises the eyebrows of many who are aware of it.  But since coming to the army she is grateful for the skill, because while she’s met more men than women who can read, not even all of the soldiers can read, let alone write.  

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She is unfamiliar with nǚ shū, a feminine writing style which has recently been popularized in Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and which is in fact specific to the Hunan province, south of Mulan’s home in Sichuan.