ABSTRACT

The tao of Mao turns to the geography of China to expose a series of vital contradictions on the land and more importantly to reveal a landscape inherently and permanently imbued with change through conflict. Despite the overwhelming strength of the tradition, however, the application of existential and phenomenological perspectives has, of late, more clearly focused attention on a rationale for the examination of the role of individuals in the making of landscape. The landscape is thoroughly and permanently imbued with struggle, tension, and dialectical conflict where, in Mao's terms, "the wind will not subside, even if the trees want to rest". In the analysis, the served as the centerpiece of Mao Tse-tung's image of reality as well as the intellectual foundation for the spatial and environmental program of his Sinified marxism. It constitutes the sine qua non of the Maoist environmental ethic and landscape ideal.