Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu

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Mrs. Ma Xiaoqiu

Autumn Dialogues

Black Tie Magazine: Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu On Reading

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Autumn Dialogues

Chapter 2. On Reading

People are so busy these days. Whenever reading comes up in conversation lately, I hear how useless books are; after all, we’ve done so much reading, yet we haven’t managed to live such excellent lives--so what does reading really have to offer? No one would invest in a company that provided no returns. Why invest time in a book? Is reading useless?

Over time everyone acquires an educated disposition and the wisdom that comes from decades of experience in business and personal matters. But the act of reading has occupied a position in my life whose true worth cannot be measured by any university degree.  I cannot imagine what my life would be like without reading.

Perhaps we should ask the question instead: What is reading?

Imagine, for a moment, that you desire to study the lives of women in 19^th-century England. You could of course read history or consult an economics paper on the role played by women at that era, or perhaps watch a documentary on social life and traditions. You might even consult a dictionary for information on popular fashions. Or better yet, you could read a novel by Jane Austen.

In an instant, you are transported across time to the speech, the thinking and mannerisms, and the social expectations of a young woman before marriage in 1813. There are no facts to learn, and yet one absorbs a great deal about the relationships between men and women at the time; how they lived, and how they loved and hoped. The mind naturally absorbs and reflects upon these realities.

Reading is time travel. It is being there. The time it takes to turn a page and begin reading is the time it will take you to travel back two centuries. It evokes the cultural essence of a country at the time of its composition and transmits a record of daily life, no matter how long ago. You share the mind of this person long dead, who is at that moment alive as you read the words that person composed—the same words!

Reading is free experience. How many lessons do we learn from the classics about human behavior and the everyday issues common to people of all eras? Think of them as instantly available. They require no fuel, except imagination. They do not become useless if unused. They can quickly come into service with a little dusting. Yes, everyone is busy. But the habit of reading must be cultivated and encouraged. Books are never too busy for us. We are too busy for books—but by not reading, we lose more time than we gain.

In my teenage years, as a quiet girl, I enjoyed being alone in a companionship of books. Though I sat in a small room, they allowed me to travel beyond the walls and without a time frame—I crossed histories and oceans in search of life’s inviolable truths. I cultivated a moral sentiment based on what I read, and I became a better person because of it. As the saying goes, Read ten thousand books--travel ten thousand miles. The 17^th-cent. poet John Donne could have been referring to a book when he wrote: It makes one little room an everywhere.

I was fortunate to discover the classics. Their beauty is matched only by their practicality. They have changed the course of my life. Choosing a right book is just like discovering a wise mentor. See how the characters--the wicked, the kind, the educated, the innocent—speak their lines deal with difficult situations. You can see what would have happened to you in that situation. What would you have done? This is a free education in human affairs—or depending on the book—on business affairs. You can learn these lessons without enduring the hardships normally required to gain those insights. What a tremendous gift to us! If someone told you they could provide guidance on almost any topic under the sun, wouldn’t you be interested?  So why don’t people read? How can books be useless?

Reading can smooth out deficiencies in our nature. Our innate talents are like natural flowers and trees. Reading teaches us how to arrange them so that they may flourish. I have interviewed a lot of successful entrepreneurs from humble backgrounds. They did not appear to have had a great deal of formal education, and yet they had never stopped learning. They had some experiences at work, and they put other experiences to the test in reading—and they gained twofold in wisdom. Reading creates an instant perspective. Talented people who do not read a lot may be skillful in specific areas of productivity, but those who study and think diligently always maintain an awareness of wider issues. Reading broadens our visions, enhances our knowledge, and enriches the way we think and how we perceive the world. People who do not read so much sometimes become too narrow in their focus: that kind of attention is not always a good thing.

At some point, of course, we need to be aware of what we read and its impact on our mental process. Loving books is great, but knowing how to judge a book’s quality is like keeping to a healthy diet. Absorbing poorly written books without judgement can lead to puffiness in thought and mediocre conceptions of what constitutes progress in our daily lives. The methods available for reading have expanded enormously since the turn of the century. For instance, one can read an entire book on a cell phone. The issue with cell phones is the distraction of that small screen that affects how we absorb information--those superficial ideas and flashing reminders, not leaving much room for introspection or systematic thought.

Many young people do read exclusively and rapidly on electronic devices. This I do not advocate. There is no sense of occasion, of intellectual immersion, of a specific and special transmission of ideas.  We miss the mindful experience of turning the page and being aware of the book’s binding, its fragrance, the texture of the pages.

In addition, books are characters in themselves: they have their own emotional associations that mark passages in our lives. We can remember specific rainy days spent in reading, and even recall the passages we read. Reading is a process of thinking, of being in place, of attentiveness. Digital words on a small screen generally do not provide that kind of experience. Cell phones have no personalities. They offer data—not words. Reading is more than absorbing data.

Ancient monks devised entire systems for memorizing passages for future reference—to them, reading was a method of transport into the world of the spirit and the intellect, and they marked the pages with signs and systems for retaining key points in the memory. In this way, knowledge enters the mind and heart of the reader through
 repeated exposure.

As the sages once said, ‘When we are young, we read books as if appreciating the moon through a narrow tube. When we reach middle-age, we read as if we are admiring the moon from a courtyard. In our senior years, we read to see the moon in all its detail, as on a spinning dais.’  The more experience we have, the more we can accommodate and understand the experience of others as being closer to our own. The same goes for the isolated rural districts that have not benefited until recently from the resources available to big-city dwellers. In such remote land areas, entire communities of potential readers may exist in isolation. The cultural needs of these rural places are often overlooked. But it has long been recognized that, 1) culture is an engine for innovation and endeavor, and 2) that cultural coherence already exists in these communities, and reading can quickly result in tangible economic activities, such as festivals
 or study programs.

Reading creates a powerful means of self-expression—because good readers frequently make good writers. Self-expression lies at the heart of the New Chinese Narrative. Books bring us together, as people, and as a culture. They are the fabric from which civilizations are woven.

They deserve our respect and attention.

秋言物语- 系列视频- 光与影 （解说词）

Autumn Dialogues- Video Series-My story with movies (Commentary)

马小秋是一位能著书立说、能歌善舞、作词作曲的中国女企业家。她是首位在联合国演讲《道德经智慧》的女性；新冠肺炎肆虐全球的3月份，马小球创作演唱的mv《惟愿》全网收听近10亿次，被誉为“全球抗疫第一歌”。在商界，她身兼香港上市公司中国鼎益丰（00612hk）董事会主席、美国“华宇中国”（DYF Entertainment）影视集团CEO、中国励世创响影业CEO，深圳十大杰出女企业家，美国“家庭电影奖”Family Film Awards主席。

Ms Ma Xiaoqiu is a writer, composer, singer and a successful business woman. She is the first Chinese woman to give a talk on the wisdom and force of the Tao Te Jing in the United Nations. Her song “The Prayer”, written in March, when the world was ravaged by the pandemic, was viewed over 1 billion times and was awarded “best song rallying against the pandemic ”. In the business world, Ms Ma Xiaoqiu is the Chairman of the Board of Hong Kong listed company: China Ding Yifeng (00612hk), CEO of DYF Entertainment (New York), CEO of Beijing Lishi Film Group (Beijing), Chairman of the Family Film Awards (Hollywood), and she was named in Top 10 Most Outstanding Business Women of Shenzhen.

《秋言物语》中文版经中国社科学院出版一年多来，评论收录近10万条。其作者马小秋，更是成为中国文化的传播者。马小秋三个字，也成为华人世界的个人品牌。

Since the publication of Autumn Dialogues by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in January 2019, there are nearly 100,000 reviews and retweets on social media platforms about the book and the author.  Ma Xiaoqiu has become a popular name, a personal brand associated with the Chinese culture and its promotion nationwide.

《秋言物语》是用日记和散文创作的关于作者的人生旅程，用81篇文章记载了作者如何将“道德经“作为生命的力量，用在企业文化和财富积累的打造上, 真实记载，感悟和实操娓娓道来，读来情真意切。英文版即将在2020年11月15日，由全球最大书城亚马逊隆重推出。

Autumn Dialogues (autumn in Chinese reads “qiu”, a pun on Ma Xiaoqiu’s name-Xiaoqiu, little autumn ) is about Ma Xiaoqiu's life journey in a journal form. With 81 entries, this book records how the author takes "Tao Te Ching" or the Book of Virtue as her own life force, her corporate DNA and her guiding power of the wealth creation. It’s an intimate look into the life of this one of a kind lady written in flowing prose. The English version will be available on Amazon on Nov 15, 2020.

马小球有一个梦想，就是有一天能在国际上讲好她的中国故事，通过通俗易懂的语言，歌声和文字，特别是电影。 马小秋经常和同事、雇员、朋友、商业合作伙伴都提到过她一直有着一个电影梦。《秋言物语》第一篇， 她就曾回忆起儿时看坝坝电影的场景：“那时候，电影远远不如今天这样普及。电影院很少，影片远不及现在多。露天电影是让所有人期待与享受的娱乐方式。每次放电影，消息都会传得飞快。天还未黑，大家都早早地把晚饭吃了，搬着自家的小板凳去占取中心位置。我也常常搬着小凳子，背着小我五岁的妹妹，欢天喜地的坐在露天坝看电影。一台电影放映机，一个大喇叭，一块白荧幕，把幕单绑在树木或电线杆上。一切准备就绪，等放映机的光束照射上去，那荡气回肠的英雄赞歌﹑海誓山盟的儿女情长﹑韵味悠长的乡土故事就在那块四四方方的幕布上上演了。

Ma Xiaoqiu has a dream that one day she can tell her grassroots Chinese stories internationally through books, music and movies, through mediums that are understood by all.  Ma Xiaoqiu often mentions to those around her, be it friends or coworkers, that she has always had a dream about film making. In the first chapter of Autumn Dialogues, she recalls the scene of watching movies in a community square as a child: "At that time, movies were far less common than they are today. There were few movie theaters and there were fewer movies. Open air film theater- makeshift structures erected outdoors- attracted everyone. Every time a movie was to be shown, word spread fast. Before it was even dark, entire families had already had their diners; they gathered at the venue early, hoping to get a good view. I also often carried a small stool in one arm and my younger sister of five years in the other. There was a white screen tied at all four corners to trees or telegraph poles, nearby a projector and a loudspeaker had been set up. The projector sprang into life and sent a sharp light over the heads and the evening air onto the screen.  The magic of moving picture was more powerful than whatever circumstances I found myself in and I was transported to a world of heroes, people larger than life. On the silver screen, heroes did what heroes were supposed to do. And in the end, even after many setbacks, justice prevailed.

每个人都感受过文字的力量，无论是从一本好书，还是从经典电影的台词金句中；不少人也都有过围炉观影的奇妙感觉；一群观众凭住呼吸紧跟剧情，一心想知道接下来会发生什么？为主人公担忧，为剧情的涤荡起伏心跳。 当年轻的父母在睡前给宝宝们阅读精彩故事时，孩子们于是学会了什么叫图书的魔力-画面映入眼帘，走进心底脑海，直到在故事中入睡。睡前故事的语言和画面， 为孩子们的梦镜编织了一层保护纱和奇妙的追梦历程。这种美妙感觉从人类出现以来，随着故事代代相传。

Everyone knows the power of words, whether written in books or spoken on screens by an actor.  Many also felt the magical effect of compelling storytelling: hanging on every scene as the plot unfolds, anticipating what will happen next. We worry over the protagonist and are capitated by the plot. This love for a good story is instilled in us since we were young, listening to our parents lull us to sleep with bed time stories. We fall asleep with images inspired by those words and those images and stories accompany us in our dreams. This human nature  native to all of us has been passed on from generation to generation since the emergence of human beings.

优秀的电影能映照我们自身，让我们身临其境。那些面对逆境和苦难直面奋斗的故事，那些充满勇气去反抗不公正的故事...我们一遍又一遍地重温剧中那些熟悉和喜爱的难忘角色，并不是因为我们淡忘了故事情节，而是想要再次身临其境，去体验生命中重要的里程碑事件，就像一首反复聆听回味的歌曲... 这些电影作品真正经历了岁月的考验， 我们多少人曾经从年少时看过的电影中，学到了改变人生的一课？

A good movie can draw us in and immerse us. Those stories of overcoming adversity and hardship, those stories that show courage in the face of injustice... we revisit those familiar characters and journeys over and over again, not because we have forgotten the storyline, but because we want to experience the catharsis and triumph again and again. These films have truly gone through the test of time, teaching us life lessons through characters, story plots  and fantastic scenes since we were young.

“记忆尤其深刻的是《英雄儿女》《永不消逝的电波》《闪闪的红星》，那个时代的电影在我心田种下了正义、无私和大无畏的英雄种子。现在想想，那个时代的电影有着我太多的回味……”

"What I remember most deeply are Sons and Daughters of Heroes, The Never-Ending Radio Wave, and The Shining Red Star. The films of that era planted the seeds of justice, selflessness and fearlessness in me. Now that I think about it, the movies of that era are very nostalgic to me... "

也曾一度，由于一些急功近利的影片泛滥，马小秋对豪华包装却空洞无味的所谓“大片”失去了兴趣，直到近年来，一部部制作精良，适应家庭观看的国产电影崛起，她又拾起了她丢失已久的电影梦。比如《芳华》 《无问西东》让她找回了儿时从电影获得的感觉：正义、善良、勇敢和无私。实际上，马小秋所青睐的这些电影，都是好莱坞“家庭电影“创始人盖里尼先生欣赏推崇的。 1996年， 家庭电影奖在时任总统克林顿和好莱坞传奇迪克.克拉克等好莱坞著名人士支持下，基尼里先生在环球影城举行了首届家庭电影奖颁奖典礼（放一段基尼里视频-家庭电影奖。最初那一段视频，突出基尼里。）

At one time, Ma Xiaoqiu lost interest in the so-called "blockbusters" when the luxurious packaging of the larger than life stories eclipsed all too completely everything else. In recent years, with the rise of well-made domestic family films, she picked up her long lost passion of movies. For example, Youth and Forever Young let her rediscover the feeling she got from the films of her childhood: justice, kindness, bravery and selflessness. As a matter of fact, Ma Xiaoqiu's favorite films are appreciated and respected by Mr. Gellini, founder of Hollywood’s Family Film Awarda. In 1996, with the support of then President Bill Clinton and Hollywood legend Dick Clark, Mr. Gellini hosted the first family film award ceremony in Universal Studios. (Play a keniery Video - family movie award. The first video)

汤姆汉克斯等一线影星均获得特别奖項。 汤姆汉克斯说： 家庭电影奖，顾名思义就是适合家庭成员一起观看的电影，以家庭为核心导向，区别于暴力、性等非家庭主题的暖心电影。“ （放一段视频汤姆汉克斯说话）

Among those to receive awards was Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks expressed what we all felt: Family Film awards, as the name suggests, awards movies a whole family can watch and enjoy together.

随着中国经济的崛起， 中国电影业空前兴旺，中国票房也直追好莱坞大片创造的全球奇迹。 2020年终于赶超美国票房，成为全球票房粮仓 （Joe：展示中国票房2020年图片）。 正是在新冠疫情高峰期、 马小秋决定入股好莱坞“家庭电影奖“，并成为其最大股东，为中国电影入围好莱坞、在好莱坞获得话语权。 好莱坞传奇-家庭电影奖创始人奥林匹亚.盖里尼博士和马小秋有着一样的梦想和对文化的热爱。 家庭是连接人们的纽带，一家人就是要互相照看；左邻右舍就是要互相帮扶；在疫情期间，我们的家扩展到整个地球村，和而不同，以和为贵。 通过家庭电影奖的全球话语权和软实力，结合中国一带一路打造人类命运共同体这一大事，马小秋将在好莱坞家庭电影奖的基础上， 扩展以“家“文化为核心的影视娱乐，将几千年中国传统文化中关于家国情怀、教育理念、财富之道糅合一体。有国才有家。在中国人心目中，家与国是不可分割，息息相关的。修身齐家治国平天下，中国人永远将个人荣辱、家族前途与国家命运紧密联系起来，近年来叫好又叫座的电影《流浪地球》《战狼》《我和我的祖国》体现的无不是中国人的家国情怀，均符合家庭电影的核心价值。

With the rise of China's economy, so too has China’s box office - it has rocketed to become number one in 2020.  Ma Xiaoqiu decided to take a stake in Family Film Award and become its largest shareholder. Like Ma Xiaoqiu, Dr Olympia Geillini, a Hollywood legend, shares the same passion and dream for film and the love of culture. Family is the first connection people make. As a family, we should care for each other.  During the time of pandemic, our family has extended to our neighbors, both individually and globally. Harmony is most important to the Chinese. Where there is a country, there is a home. In the eyes of Chinese, home and country are inseparable. In recent years, the well-known films The Wandering Earth , Wolf Warriors and My People, My Country reflect the Chinese people's feelings of home and country, which are in line with the core values of family movies.

这也是疫情后大洗牌的好莱坞和马小球创办的“华宇中国“影视集团面临海内外发展的难得机遇， 一个顺其自然的企业发展举措。“华宇中国”影视集团将吸纳有着全球和平梦想和家国情怀的影视人才， 在马小秋的领导下，金融和文化携手，产生更多的以家庭为主题的合拍电影。

This is also a rare opportunity for Hollywood and DYF Entertainment come together in the continuing fight against the epidemic. Under the leadership of Ma Xiaoqiu, finance and culture will join hands to create the synergy to propel co-production of many good family films through global talents.

Autumn Dialogues

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu Hollywood

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu Chinese Culture

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu  繁花似锦 Flowers Blooming Like Brocade

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu  The Rockefellers

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu Rejoicing in Giving Alms

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu The Path to Inner Peace Has No Boundary

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu The Majesty of Mountains

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu A Sacred Bird from Antiquity

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu  In the City Palace and in the Countryside Farm

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu  Reading we are all so busy these days

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu  My Story With Movies

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu  The Family Film Awards

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu President Clinton

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu The Prayer

Mrs. Ma. Xiaoqiu Ding Yi Feng