Michael Dutton most recently taught at Beijing Capital Normal University and Goldsmiths, University of London, and is the author of
Carl Schmitt used Mao Zedong’s poem, “Kunlun,” to explain Mao’s “telluric partisanship.” This chapter follows Schmitt examining the poem but instead of words it looks at the brushstrokes. Each brushstroke is a release of telluric energy. Tied to the release of vital energy or qi, Chinese calligraphy (or shufa) is very different to the Western form and this is clearly evident in the poetic, revolutionary strokes of Mao Zedong. This chapter follows the flow of vital energy and the brushstrokes of Mao Zedong. Mao’s wild, grass-style calligraphy leaves lines, dots, streaks, and strokes on the page and opens to an alternative way of comprehending and appreciating not just the poem “Kunlun” but, through that, the Maoist revolution.
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