Introduction: An oil painting of the Earth by Jack Ma sold for 36 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, sparking outrage and condemnation from the art community. The astronomical price achieved by Jack Ma’s painting places it among the top 10 highest-priced works by living Chinese artists, and has undoubtedly caused severe disruption to the order of the art market. Using the guise of charity to inflate the price of paintings is an act that accumulates small acts of kindness but commits great evil. Using commercial influence and money to trample on art not only maliciously undermines artistic values but also maliciously harms social values.

Jack Ma’s tremendous business success has given him immense social influence. In the wake of this explosive influence, his spiritual mentors—Masters Li Yi and Wang Lin—were torn to shreds by netizens. Overnight, Master Li Yi went from being a leading figure in Taoism to a charlatan. Master Wang Lin likewise went from being a mysterious qigong master to a charlatan overnight and is now a prisoner in a detention center. Jack Ma’s influence may well explode like a nuclear blast this time as well—will his collaborator, Zeng Fanzhi, become the next scapegoat?

Author: Lin Zhenglu

At the auction, the oil painting *Peach Blossom Spring*, a collaboration between Jack Ma and Zeng Fanzhi, opened at 1.3 million Hong Kong dollars. After 32 rounds of bidding lasting 7 minutes and 15 seconds, it was purchased by Qian Fenglei, a Hong Kong entrepreneur and philanthropist born in the 1970s and Qian Fenglei—a Hong Kong entrepreneur and philanthropist born in the 1970s and Chairman of Global International (Hong Kong) Holding Group—for 36 million Hong Kong dollars, with the final hammer price reaching 27.69 times the starting bid. It is reported that all proceeds from this auction will be donated to the Peach Blossom Spring Foundation to support environmental protection initiatives.

Mr. Jack Ma, there is no doubt that you are a successful figure in China’s business world and are regarded as a business elite. You have made a name for yourself in the new economy—the virtual economy—and your achievements are widely celebrated. Especially in China, where people tend to deify figures, your every move is closely watched; At this point, you have become a symbolic figure of the Chinese spirit, and all your words and actions in public carry a sense of public responsibility. You are a role model; what you represent and offer to the public should be the spirit, insights, and conduct of an elite grounded in modern civilization.

Unfortunately, you recently put a painting up for auction. I hear the event was incredibly lively, and the final bid reached a high of 2.42 million. Reportedly, you even said that in 500 years, you would buy it back for the astronomical price of 5 billion. In my view, regardless of whether Jack Ma’s move was intended as a business strategy or a charitable fundraiser, it lacks any positive significance and is, on the contrary, highly negative and absurd; such behavior can only come from a “nouveau riche” who lacks an understanding of civilization. Therefore, I feel compelled to offer Jack Ma a few words of advice.

Mr. Jack Ma, you must understand that art, like technology, originates from the fundamental desires of human nature, takes effect within the course of human civilization, and constitutes a foundational element of human progress; The two resonate and complement one another, driving humanity toward continuous self-improvement and, thereby, toward greatness and nobility; by “greatness and nobility,” I mean the sublime and solemn sense of creativity and character. Therefore, for individuals and for human civilization, art and technology are humanity’s sacred treasures; respecting art and technology is a fundamental mindset and essential spirit that modern people should embrace. If measured against the standards of modern civilization, those who disregard art and technology are mentally unwell; anyone with a civilized understanding of modernity will wholeheartedly respect art, embrace art, support art, and nurture art and the artistic ecosystem—rather than trample upon them.

As for Mr. Jack Ma, the impact of your words and actions regarding the purchase of paintings amounts to a trampling of art and the art ecosystem. First of all, you do not understand the core value of art, nor do you understand the systemic nature of its creation. Your ignorance of art is akin to that of a newborn infant toward an internet information system. You seem to believe that, simply because you are a celebrity, any random scribble you produce has value. This is a deeply backward mindset rooted in the notion of “celebrity calligraphy and paintings.” Such thinking is itself a product of China’s backward authoritarian culture and centralized mindset; it constitutes a shameless, ignorant, and brutal trampling of artistic value and the art ecosystem, and has prevented Chinese art throughout history from ever fulfilling its rightful potential.

Keep in mind that former U.S. President George W. Bush’s paintings sell for only a dozen or so dollars; in terms of fame, you’re still a long way behind Bush at the moment. So why doesn’t Bush dare—or even try—to hawk his “artwork” the way you do? Because a civilized society does not allow anyone to arbitrarily undermine its value system. Art has its own authoritative evaluation system, the judiciary has its own, and science and technology have theirs; Therefore, not only would Bush not dare to do so, but U.S. citizens would not permit it either. If Bush were to act like Jack Ma, it would be detrimental to art and the artistic ecosystem—causing serious harm to the public, artistic values, artists, the systems and mechanisms that foster art, and artistic value itself.

So, Mr. Jack Ma, whether your motivation is commercial hype or charitable purposes, you cannot use the purchase of your paintings as a gimmick. If you want to generate commercial buzz, you can choose other methods—as long as they do not harm the public interest or our value system; If you wish to engage in philanthropy, you can simply donate funds directly; if you are passionate about art, you can take the time to seriously study it, master it, and gain a deeper understanding of it.

Finally, I’d like to explain why I’ve criticized you for selling your paintings, but haven’t criticized Zhao Benshan and other so-called cultural figures:

First, they are a group of hopelessly backward, self-important “celebrities” who lack any understanding of or perspective on modern civilization; they are foolishly deceiving one another. There are simply too many of them—I am powerless to change this, nor can I change it. All I can do is place my hope in the theory of evolution to weed them out; As for you, standing at the forefront of the world’s civilizational progress, you objectively possess a broader vision and foresight regarding humanity’s future than the vast majority of Chinese people. You hold the potential to influence China—and its youth—to move toward a more positive and healthy modernity rooted in civilization. Therefore, I must criticize you, offer you advice, and correct your current ignorance. If even someone like you, Jack Ma, lacks an understanding of the core values of art, then the genuine rise of Chinese culture is in doubt.

II. I hope Jack Ma will truly value the arts and dedicate himself to and invest in the development of China’s artistic ecosystem; the quality of this ecosystem is closely tied to the creativity and character of the Chinese people; it determines whether the Chinese people can possess the qualities of a modern civilization; I believe Mr. Jack Ma is well aware that the core of the new economy—the virtual economy—is creativity, that is, effectively unleashing and recognizing the creativity of every individual, thereby creating value (both material and spiritual), and art and technology are at the heart of this creativity; Although Mr. Jack Ma has built an online trading platform (e-commerce system), a platform alone is far from sufficient to realize the true value of a new civilization and a new economy. What matters most is creativity—the ability of every Chinese person to possess and exercise advanced, positive creativity. In other words, when Jack Ma’s e-commerce platform circulates these advanced creative products made by the Chinese people, only then will Jack Ma’s e-commerce platform truly be the platform of our time.