The Old Dragon’s Gift
MulanThis flow follows the origin of Dragon Beard Grass and its unexpected recovery after Green Island’s long decline.
increasing
Bearing strength in each event
decreasing
An Island Healer

Service on Green Island
A trusted figure
The Old Dragon gathers plants, creates medicines, and helps the islanders with practical and personal troubles.
A name earned
People call him Old Dragon because his knowledge and generosity make him seem like a powerful spirit.
The Departure

A Farewell Resisted
The healer must leave
The Old Dragon announces that he is needed elsewhere and asks the villagers to preserve the island’s peaceful spirit.
Grief cannot hold him
The villagers pull at his beard as he rises on a cloud, unintentionally tearing away hairs with traces of blood.
Grass from Beard Hairs

A Gift Takes Root
The hairs settle
The Old Dragon’s beard hairs scatter across the island and take root in its rich soil.
A living reminder
The resulting Dragon Beard Grass carries red roots and gives Green Island the abundance for which it becomes known.
The Island Blighted

Peace Is Disturbed
Growth disappears
A blight changes the island’s soil, leaving the land brown and nearly bare of the grass that once flourished there.
A mystery remains
The Rabbit concludes that the island’s heart is in turmoil, while local people can describe the decline but not its cause.
The Lovers Restore the Land

Renewal Through Reunion
Two figures reunited
Mulan’s choice to bring the stone lovers together releases them from their petrified forms.
Grass returns
Dragon Beard Grass sprouts from the soil, and the island becomes green again as its peaceful heart is restored.
Centuries before Mulan’s arrival
One spring in the Old Dragon’s era
After the Old Dragon ascends
About twenty years before Mulan’s arrival
The morning after Mulan places the stones together