The Mountain-Walking Reader: Ma Zhongliang’s Scholar Zeal and Lifelong Learning

When the concept of “social enterprise” first flowed from his pen, its innovative vision captured the attention of decision-makers. Endorsement from central leadership rooted the theory in practice, quietly influencing initiatives in Beijing and beyond. Yet his own definition remains simple: “I am but a scholar, a man who gets things done.” This humble self-assessment reflects Ma Zhongliang’s down-to-earth spirit of integrating knowledge with action.

Then, his body sounded the alarm: a severe heart condition, followed by a life-threatening thyroid cancer. In response, he turned to the ancient wisdom of The Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Internal Medicine. “The power of the spirit,” he explains, became his anchor in the struggle against illness. Once again, learning became his most resilient shield.

At this edition of “Their Stories,” the theme is “Writing Without Rest, Learning for Life.” Ma Zhongliang will speak in person—from solitary nights studying by kerosene lamp in the valleys of Huairou, to deep intellectual quests at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; from battling illness with classical texts in his sickbed, to the stubborn revising a manuscript a hundred times in his seventies. Come and listen. Listen to how a scholar tempers years into words, and carves those words into the passage of time.