HONG KONG -- Three years ago, on Nov. 11 -- the date of Singles' Day, the Alibaba-led shopping extravaganza -- Jack Ma released a short film. A slick, 22-minute production titled "Gong Shou Dao," it follows the diminutive Ma as he encounters a series of ever-more towering opponents, from screen idol Jet Li to a Mongolian sumo wrestler.
In the concluding frames, Ma, co-founder of e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba and its financial unit Ant, strikes tai chi poses as phrases flash across the screen: "Following no doctrine, only karma"; "Brave, but not brash."
