馬躍的縱橫人生

他灑脫隨性，果斷選擇，又懂得放棄，他在廣闊的空間和時間軸上縱橫馳騁，一次又一次漂亮地轉身。他是馬躍，他不僅是個收藏家。

Casual， spontaneous， decisive， and knows when to give up， he has explored the length of time and space with every successful turn of his career. He is Ma Yue， he is more than a collector.

馬躍成長于一個存在決定意識的年代，他毫不諱言當年的夢想就是拯救世界上三分之二處于水深火熱之中的人們。

1992年，在蘇黎世開往維也納的火車包廂里，一位年輕人勉強睜著眼睛看著窗外的夜空，以抵抗潮水般的困意。他的目的地是慕尼黑。手表的指針與數字12重合時，他終于堅持不住，歪著頭睡著了。當他醒來時，發現慕尼黑早已駛過。他拿起那本歐洲列車時刻表仔細查看，心里暗自盤算，去維也納聽場音樂會似乎也不是件壞事，便又倒頭睡去。早上6點，火車準時到達維也納車站，年輕人提著行李邊走邊問，找到金色大廳，然后認認真真地坐下聽一場音樂會，盡情享受一頓精神大餐。這個年輕人就是馬躍。

即使在今天，這樣的瀟灑與隨性也非普通背包客能做到，而馬躍在22年前就已然如此，那時他在歐洲人眼里還是一個土土的中國青年。馬躍說，他們那一代人經歷了很多，大時代的劇烈躁動讓他們失去很多，卻令其中的勇敢者無所畏懼。正如狄更斯在《雙城記》中所言：“這是最好的時代，這是最壞的時代”。在這個時代，馬躍以敞開的胸懷接受一切新事物，抓住每一個變革的節點，從容轉身，瀟灑而上。

率性而為

還在馬躍年幼的時候。某一天他瞧見一架撒文革傳單的直升機在空中盤旋，一陣驚疑后，他開始玩兒命地追著飛機跑，直跑到忘記了回家吃晚飯。天黑后當他回到家時，懷里還抱著一大摞彩色傳單。他當時拼命跑、拼命接傳單、拼命撿傳單，現在回想，似乎只是想知道天空中掉下來的紙張里寫著什么，它們與轟轟烈烈卻千篇一律的地面世界有何不同。那天，他愣是把所有傳單看了個遍才回家。

那會兒，馬躍的父親因為工作原因常駐歐洲。在上世紀70年代“批林批孔”熱火朝天時，一次從歐洲回國度假的父親告訴他：“在西方國家，人們提到東方就會提到孔子。在西方人眼里，孔子是最受尊敬的中國人之一，是東方的圣人。”對于年少的馬躍，這段話與他在現實中的所見所聞存在著巨大的反差，并一度讓他困惑，迫切地希望了解這個世界。于是，他把大把時間用來讀書，家里的一大箱中外名著被他閱覽無遺。直到今天，馬躍依然堅信自己敢于懷疑常規、甚至藐視表象規則的性格就是那時形成的，一切都源于因好奇而產生的懷疑。

工作后，馬躍經常有機會一個人去國外出差。除了本職工作，他永遠忍不住多走一兩個國家或城市，去看看這個世界究竟是怎樣的。曾經有一次，他慵懶地坐在德國科隆大教堂廣場，突然想去探望自己在比利時的幾位朋友，并且了解這個被稱為“歐洲十字路口”的國家。因為沒有比利時的入境簽證，馬躍試著和教堂門前的德國人搭訕，打聽是否還有別的方法可行。結果德國人一聽，笑著說這事兒簡單，坐早班車去比利時就不會有人查驗簽證。就這樣，馬躍乘坐第二天的早班火車“偷渡”到了比利時的布魯塞爾。這類經歷在馬躍身上可謂舉不勝舉，人生就是如此，許多看似難以逾越的藩籬有時只需你多邁出一步，就成了甩在身后的笑談。馬躍就喜歡探尋這一步的方向。

馬躍成長于一個存在決定意識的年代，他毫不諱言當年的夢想就是拯救世界上三分之二處于水深火熱之中的人們。后來發現，這個世界上的確有三分之二的人生活在不佳的狀態之下，不過“那三分之二的人恰好就是我們自己”。但正是在這樣一個現在看起來有點荒唐的夢想的指引下，馬躍才一步步走了過來。

“跨界”跳躍

馬躍大學畢業之后開始從事自動化技術研究，20多歲時已經擁有了國家級成果和獎項，為此還受到當年的某位政治局常委和國家科委主任的接見。28歲時，馬躍被破格提拔為某部委研究院的副處長，“因為當時講究論資排輩，所以我被提拔時曾引起不小的爭議。”馬躍回憶道。“當時中央有個培養第三梯隊人才的計劃，我就是第三梯隊的儲備干部。到現在，很多‘第三梯隊人才’已經成了部級領導。”

就在馬躍仕途一帆風順時，他被派往香港公干，一住3年，這段經歷改變了他的人生。在和香港的金融界巨擘們、來自全球的大企業家們過招兒之后，馬躍看到了世界的另一面，看到了在當年他想拯救的“三分之二”人類的金字塔尖上，精英們是如何在改變世界。然后，他做了一個自己看來理所當然的決定：放棄仕途，去闖出自己的商業世界。

下海之后，馬躍成為上世紀90年代中國工業企業自動化領域的業界領軍人物。而當國務院關于制作第二代居民身份證的計劃開始實施時，他又眾望所歸，承擔起為上億中國人制造身份證的使命。“第二代身份證的標準也是在我們工廠的實驗室里做過大量試驗后炮制出來的”。佛家講，兩個人謀面即緣分，而中國有數億人揣著馬躍參與制作的身份證，連一位著名的高僧大德都說他是“不尋常的有緣人”。

不過馬躍從來就不是一個安分的人，當他在商業上取得巨大成功后，他開始將注意力從橫向的世界轉移到了縱向的時間，漸漸沉浸在古典文化與文物藝術品收藏的樂趣之中。

收藏文化

早在上世紀八、九十年代，馬躍在與英國海外開發署合作，與世界銀行、亞洲銀行打交道時，就游歷了許多國家。在與歐洲人的交流中，對方談及文藝復興，總會提到美第奇家族。歐洲人有句話：“不能說沒有美第奇家族就沒有意大利文藝復興，但沒有美第奇家族，歐洲的文藝復興肯定不是今天我們所看到的樣子。”相對于歐洲人對歷史文化的珍視，馬躍見到的是當年國人對歷史文化的肆意踐踏。從那時起，他開始留意古典文化和收藏。

在涉足收藏領域多年后，馬躍已然是這個圈子里的重量級人物。在他眼中，以文物藝術品作為投資獲利載體所開展的收藏，是偽收藏，是收藏的低級境界。幾年前，一位朋友帶了一只明代民窯瓷盤讓他給看看。馬躍對他說：“咱們先不談這只盤子，聊點其他的。你愿意告訴我花多少錢買的嗎？”“80萬。”“為什么要買呢？”“某某專家是我朋友，告訴我還有升值空間。”“你家里流動資產有多少呢？”“不足130萬。”“你知道什么叫民窯嗎？”“不懂。”這時馬躍拿起家里一個日常喝水的杯子問道：“你愿意立下一個遺囑，讓你400年后的家人用其流動資產的70%買這個杯子嗎？”朋友立刻明白了過來，大呼該死。在馬躍看來，玩收藏，消費的是歷史文化，一件文物藝術品值得你玩味的是它背后蘊含的一段歷史、一份工藝美學價值、一種文化承載，僅僅因為一個物件“年齡老”，就花大價錢收藏，無疑是賭博心理作祟使然。

生活就是電影

從小到大，馬躍的事業一直順風順水。他在給自己打分時，將人生分成了四份，其中健康、事業、財富他都給自己打了滿分。唯獨情感這一項，在他眼中有所缺憾。

“我和女兒9年沒見了，我一直期待著女兒18歲之后有機會見到她。”馬躍說這句話的時候，已經有淚珠在眼眶里打轉。

9年前，當馬躍和女兒一起在美國波士頓機場步下飛機時，7名全副武裝的警察突然從左右沖入，將他按倒在地上。一陣混亂之后，馬躍才被告知他被控“綁架了自己的親生女兒”。

那是一個暑假，他帶女兒回美國看看。可正在和馬躍辦理離婚的前妻，此時注銷了女兒的護照，并告知美國警方馬躍綁架了自己的女兒。在波士頓機場，警察告訴他，要么警方送孩子去社會兒童看護組織，要么讓她跟著媽媽走。馬躍毫無選擇，拭淚而別。

這場戲劇性的離別，這次成人之間感情傷痛帶給父女親情的阻隔，是馬躍生命中蝕骨的痛。在隨后的9年中，因為種種原因，他一直未能和女兒見面。明年女兒就將滿18歲，也就意味著在分別10年后，他將有可能第一次看到女兒。“冥冥之中我一直有一種期待，我的生活與事業看上去似乎和女兒沒什么聯系，其實，它們和大洋彼岸的女兒一定有著某種奇異的關聯。”馬躍感慨道。

馬躍的朋友王水泊，一位曾經獲奧斯卡金像獎提名的加拿大華裔導演，在知道馬躍的故事后，一直想說服他把過往的經歷寫成劇本拍成電影。他認為這將是一部能夠問鼎金像獎的作品。“王永泊給我發過幾次信，直到最后一次，他戳中了我的軟肋，他說在片子制作完成后，可以在片頭聲明這是你送給女兒的禮物，我的心立刻就軟了。”也許在若干年后，馬躍可以和女兒一起看這部電影，亦未可知。

馬躍說，在大時代中，健康、事業、財富和情感……人生的經歷與成長，一切都隨著時代起起伏伏，自己懷疑過，成功過，失去過，也遺憾過，但他依然希望自己能用年少時代充滿好奇的眼光看世界，尋回大潮中的真情。

It was 1992. On a train from Zurich to Vienna， a young man was struggling to fight off sleep by staring at the night sky out of the window of his suite. He was heading for Munich. But by the time the hands of his watch aligned at 12， he couldn’t help but nodded off. When he started awake， Munich is already behind him. He picked up a Euro Railways timetable and calculated， it might not be a bad idea if he went to attend a concert in Vienna. So he dozed off again. The train arrived at 6 a.m. as scheduled. With luggage in hand， the young man braved ahead， pausing every now and then to ask directions until he made it to the Musikverein， known as the Gold Hall， and sat through a concert. That young man is Ma Yue.

Even today， not many backpackers could be so casual and spontaneous as Ma Yue was 24 years ago， although in the eyes of the Europeans， he was but an old-fashioned Chinese young man. His generation， he said， had experienced a lot. The dramatic changes in the turbulent times had deprived so much from them， but had also made the brave ones fearless. Just as Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities， “It was the best of times， and it was the worst of times.” It is in those times that he embraced every new thing， seized the key opportunity in every turn， and then changed course， with ease and grace， for a better life.

Follow the Heart

When he was a kid， he once saw a helicopter spreading flyers of the Cultural Revolution. After the initial surprise， he started to run to his best abilities after the helicopter to catch and pick up the flyers. In retrospect， all he wanted then was to found out what was written on those pieces of paper falling from the sky. He made a point to read every one of them before he returned home after dusk， missing his supper， with the big pile of flyers he collected.

His father at that time traveled often to Europe on business. In the heyday of the “Criticize Lin， Criticize Confucius” campaign， his father told him after one trip to the Europe， that “In the West， whenever people talk about the East， they would mention Confucius. In their eyes， Confucius is the most respectable person in China， and a Saint in the East.” The conflict of his father’s observations and the reality in then China confounded him and provoked him to learn about the world. He started to spend a lot of time in reading the chest case of Chinese and foreign classics. Till today， Ma Yue still believes that his personality of questioning norms and defying rules is shaped by that experience. It all started with curiosity questions.

His then found a job that provided him the opportunity to visit foreign countries alone. But after completing his job， he could not resist the desire to visit more cities or countries， and to see how the world looks like. Once when he was sitting in front of the Cologne Cathedral idling away his time， he suddenly had an urge to visit his friends in Belgium and the country itself， the country “at the crossroad of Europe”. Without a Belgium visa， he tried to seek advice from the Germans at the gate of the cathedral. It couldn’t be simpler， the Germans answered smilingly， just take the morning bus， and no one would bother to check your passport. So he took the earliest bus the following day and “smuggled” himself to Brussels. This is but one of the many similar experiences of Ma Yue. Sometimes if you just take one more step， the seemingly insurmountable barriers in life may turn out to be just a joke. And Ma Yue loves to explore the direction of that “step”.

Growing up in the age of “being determines consciousness”， Ma Yue acknowledges that his dream， like many， was to save the two-thirds world population who live in misery. There were indeed two-thirds of the people living in underprivileged state， but “those two-thirds turned out to be us”. But it is with this now absurd dream that Ma Yue made it to what he is today.

Cross Industry Leaps

Researching on automation technologies after graduation， Ma Yue had reaped two state-level awards for his research and was received by a member of the Political Bureau in his 20s. At 28， he was appointed， out of tradition， to be a deputy director in a Ministry. “Seniority was a big factor for promotion at that time， so my promotion caused quite a stir.” He recalls， “There was a policy of cultivating third tier talents， I was one of them. Today， many of the ‘third tier talents’ are ministerial level officials.”

As a rising political star， he was assigned to Hong Kong for three years， an experience that changes his life course. In dealing with the financial tycoons of Hong Kong and business leaders of the world， Ma Yue saw the other side of the world， the tip of the pyramid atop the two-thirds he wanted to save， and how the elites change the world. So he made what he believes to be a natural decision： abandon his political career and create his business world.

He soon became a leading figure in the automation field in the 1990s. When he learnt about China’s decision to make second generation ID cards， he seized the opportunity， and started to make ID cards for over 1 billion countryman. “The standards of the second generation ID cards were developed in my lab.” Buddhist followers believe it is fate that brings two people to sit at one table. With 800 million Chinese carrying ID cards made by him， no wonder a revered monk would claim him as “a destined person.”

Ma Yue is never the complacent type. With his huge business success， he started to turn his gaze from the horizontal world to the vertical line of time， indulging himself in classic culture and the fun of collecting cultural items.Collecting Culture

Collecting Culture

As early as in the 1980s， Ma Yue had traveled to many countries in his dealings with the Department for International Development of UK， the World Bank， and the Bank of Asia. The Europeans often talk about the Renaissance and the Medici family. “We can’t say that there would be no Italy Renaissance without the Medici family， but without the Medici family， Italy Renaissance would not be what it appears today.” In contrast to the Europeans who cherish their history and culture， what he saw at home were his countrymen wrecking havoc to its own history and culture. He started to develop an interest in classic culture and collection since then.

Now a heavy-weight in the collectors’ circle， Ma Yue believes collectors who collect for investment is the lowest level. Years ago， a friend of his brought a Ming dynasty porcelain plate for him to appreciate. He put it down after one glance， “let’s not talk about this plate， but something else. Will you tell me how much you spend on this？” “800，000.” “Why would you buy this？” “I have this expert friend. He told me it has room for appreciation.” “How much is your liquid asset？” “About 1.3 million.” “You know anything about civil kilns？” “No.” Ma Yue picked up an everyday drinking cup and presented it to his friend， “Now will you write a will to your descendents 400 years from now and ask them to spend 70% of their fortune on this very cup？” Damn， exclaimed the friend， who now saw his point. To Ma Yue， collection is about consuming history and culture. The beauty of a cultural item lies in its history and craftsmanship. Spending a fortune on an item simply because it is of “old age” is no different than a gambler who put all stakes on luck.

Life is a Movie

For all these years， Ma Yue has a smooth career. When asked to score himself， he divides his life into four parts， and gives full score on health， wealth， and career， but not on family.

“I haven’t seen my daughter for 9 years. I have been looking forward to seeing her when she turns 18.” He said with his eyes brimming with tears.

9 years ago， when he was walking out of the airport of Boston with her daughter， 7 fully armed police rushed from all around and pinned him on the ground. After the chaos， he was told that he is charged with “kidnapping his own daughter.”

It was her daughter’s summer vocation. He brought her daughter back to the U.S. But his ex-wife， who was divorcing with him， cancelled the passport of their daughter， and called the U.S. police that Ma Yue had kidnapped her daughter. At the airport， the police told him to either let her daughter leave with her mother， or let the girl be sent to a child care organization. He had no choice but to leave.

That dramatic parting， the barrier his broken marriage poses between him and his daughter， has been a searing pain in Ma Yue’s life. In the following 9 years， he was not allowed to meet her daughter by his ex-wife. His daughter will turn 18 next year， which means， he will be able to meet her the first time in 10 years. “I always have this anticipation， my life and career seems to have no relations with my daughter， but somehow I feel there must be an amazing connection with daughter across the ocean.”

When his friend， Shui-Bo Wang， an Oscar nominee Canadian Chinese director， learnt of this story， he has been trying to convince him to make it into a movie script， which he believe would knock the door to the Academy Award. “He wrote to me several times， but it was the last one that hit my soft spot， in which he said， after production of the movie， he could display at the beginning of the movie that it is gift from me to my daughter. I immediately softened my attitude.” Perhaps years later， he would be able to watch this movie together with his daughter.

Ma Yue said， in times of great changes， a person’s life， career， and family fluctuate with the currents of the times. He has once doubted， succeeded， lost， and regretted， but he still hopes to look at the world with those young curious eyes， and to recover the kindred bonds from the currents.