What is the function of intertextuality in Mulan's poems?

Many rhetorical devices are used in Mulan's poems, but intertextuality is often ignored because of its obvious duality and parallelism. In fact, intertextuality is an extremely important and unique rhetorical device in this poem. If you don't understand its function in this poem, you will not only be unable to appreciate the artistic conception of the poem, but also find it difficult to understand the meaning of the text. Here are some intertextuality in this poem and their rhetorical functions.

First, render the atmosphere.

Buy horses in the east, saddles in the west, reins in the south and whip in the north.

Parallelism uses intertextuality, otherwise literal translation is a joke. How can there be such a big "supermarket" or "specialty store"? How can you run around buying the same buyer like this? The original intention was just to "buy back the things needed to join the army from everywhere." Why are you so wordy? This is achieved through the comprehensive application of parallelism and intertextuality: let readers feel a fast rhythm; Eager attitude. It shows the military emergency of "sweat and soldiers", and exaggerates the tension before the war and Mulan's busy and orderly preparations.

Second, create characters.

The general died in battle, and the strong man returned in ten years.

Double intertextuality, you have me in the upper and lower sentences, and I have you in the upper and lower sentences. The comprehensive meaning is: "The soldiers fought many battles, some died in the battlefield, and some returned home in triumph." It highly summarized the protracted, fierce and tragic ten-year campaign, and highlighted the heroic image of Hua Mulan who risked her life to forget her death and fought bravely.

The male rabbit's feet are confused and the female rabbit's eyes are blurred.

Short and thick feet are the characteristics of male rabbits, and blurred eyes are the characteristics of female rabbits. It is obvious to distinguish male rabbits from female rabbits, but it is difficult to distinguish these two rabbits because of their above characteristics. It is suggested that Mulan dress up as a man, join the army for her father, and gallop on the battlefield like a man to show her wit and courage, and take into account the above "I didn't know Mulan was a girl for twelve years" to make the image of this legendary heroine more plump, implicit and romantic.

Third, portray the psychology of the characters.

Open my East Pavilion door and sit on my West Pavilion bed.

Literally speaking, it is illogical, and the contexts complement each other, adding meaning: "Open my Dongting door and sit on my Dongting bed;" Open my Higgs door and sit on my Higgs bed. "Because of the use of intertextuality, the passage of time and the change of place are omitted, which shows that Mulan can't wait to sit here and look at everything she used to know, and her heart is full of kindness and unspeakable taste. Endless meaning is beyond words. Through the description of action details, the psychology of the characters is portrayed: time goes by, the scenery remains the same, and readers taste this scene.

When the window is decorated with clouds and temples, the mirror is painted yellow.

If we understand "as a window" and "in front of a mirror" separately, it obviously doesn't conform to the fact that women dress up. "When the window tube clouds" should be "opposite to the mirror" and "yellow decal for the mirror" should also be "as a window". The intertextuality here changes the lens like a "montage", showing the quickness and agility of Hua Mulan's action of taking off her military uniform, and rendering her excitement of eagerly looking for her daughter's home after ten years of military career: Will the innocent, lively, pure and lovely little girl reappear in the mirror?

The application of intertextuality in Mulan's poems not only makes the words rich in meanings and appropriate in details, but also spans time and space in narration, accelerates the plot development, makes the writing full of rhythm, ups and downs, and enhances the expression effect. Understanding and mastering this rhetorical device can help us correctly and completely understand the meaning of poetry and improve our reading and appreciation ability.