With the return of ‘Mulan,’ a look at Asian actors who paved the way

Many years ago I attended a festival of Chinese films from the 1930s and 1940s and I remember being taken aback by how the women in many of those films were unstereotypically portrayed. There were few China Dollsor Dragon Ladies. Just real women living out their lives in the real world. Hollywood movies had accustomed me to an entirely different template, and I felt abashed by my naiveté.