I think a part of the discussion about #Mulan that often gets overlooked is the fact that she most likely isn't Han Chinese, but rather Xianbei, which is a proto-Mongolian ethnicity.

It's worth noting, in the original text of The Ballad of Mulan, while there's a mention of "Son of Heaven", which is a name for the emperor, the text uses "Khan" and not "Emperor". Khan is what the Xianbei would have called their rulers.

Mulan's story takes place when the Tuoba Xianbei ruled over Northern Wei. Genetic analysis of the Tuoba Xianbei reveals that they are most closely related to the Oroqen, Mongolian, and Ewenki people. The Oroqen and Ewenki are Tungusic ethnicities (Yu et al, 2006)

Here's the article link, which you can access without an account: https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1016/j.febslet.2006.10.030

From a Chen, 2002 article, there's analysis of how Mulan's name came to be, and the possibility that Mulan was instead, her surname, instead of given name.

The article also dissects the different etymological origins of the name "Mulan" in the language of the Tuoba Xianbei, and I highly recommend just taking a look:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41933398 

Then why is she known as "Hua Mulan"? The surname, Hua, isn't mentioned anywhere in the original poem, and instead stems from a play by Xu Wei written in the Ming Dynasty, about a millenium after she existed. It's the most popular last name, but by no means her real one.

I wrote this thread not as a criticism, but rather for information, since a lot of Chinese adaptations also neglect her probable Xianbei origins. As well, when talking about Chinese culture, there tends to be a trend to turn it into something monolithic, when it isn't.

I think it's also important to note that she was of non-Han ethnicity, because Han Chinese people tend to dominate discussions about representation, not only in number, but also privilege.

Also, full disclaimer: I am mostly Han Chinese and I don't claim the culture of other ethnicity. I just think it's important to recognize Mulan's ethnic origins and discuss Chinese representation at the same time.

Also, I do feel if Disney wanted to do something more original with Mulan, why not research more of the Xianbei ethnicity? Why not look at period accurate clothing instead? All of the information in this thread was found in under ten minutes, and I only use google.

I just feel that it's very important to talk about this when talking about culture and history! Chinese culture and history is very rich and long, and we shouldn't just be limited by recent adaptations.