RW: What is missing for many overseas Chinese? ZZ: Not knowledge, but intimacy. Tradition can feel imposed, so people pull away. I replace instruction with experience. When people engage with culture hands-on, they feel joy first. Understanding follows. Culture should feel warm and chosen, not required. When people draw near on their own, that is when inheritance begins. RW: You’ve said cultural inheritance begins in the family. Why? ZZ: Because family is the strongest unit of transmission. A classroom teaches knowledge, but a family shapes identity. Culture lives in language, rituals, and every- day habits. What is passed down is not information, but atmosphere. RW: How has working overseas shaped your perspective? ZZ: In China, culture is natural. Overseas, it must be chosen. It becomes identity and confidence. When I see someone feel proud in Hanfu, or a child say, “This is our culture,” I am reminded that culture is not abstract. It is inner stability. RW: What do you hope to build in the next decade? ZZ: A cultural ecosystem overseas where Chinese culture becomes part of everyday life, for both Chinese families and a wider global audience. RW: What would you say to someone feeling disconnected from their culture? ZZ: There is no need to rush. Culture is not a task. It is already within you. Start simply and let it return naturally. When you reconnect, you gain clarity and quiet confidence. RW: Thank you. What you’ve shared reminds us that culture is not distant or decorative. It lives in how we dress, gather, and pass meaning forward. ZZ: Culture does not need to return in grand ways. It can return gently, in a garment, a meal, a space, or a shared moment. We simply need to place it back into life. RW: 你认为，许多海外华人真正缺少的是什么？ ZZ: 不是知识，而是亲近感。 很多时候，传统会让人感觉像是一种被动接受的要求，于是人 们便本能地想拉开距离。而我更愿意用“体验”替代“说教”。当 一个人亲手去接触文化时，他首先感受到的是愉悦，理解往往 会在之后自然发生。 文化应该是温暖的、被自愿选择的，而不是一种负担。唯有人们 主动靠近，真正的传承才会开始。 RW: 你曾说，文化传承是从家庭开始的。为什么？ ZZ: 因为家庭是最有力量的传递单位。 课堂可以教授知识，但家庭塑造的是认同。文化真正栖居在语 言里、礼仪里、日常习惯里。被代代传下来的，从来不只是信息， 而是一种氛围。 RW: 在海外工作与生活的经历，如何影响了你对文化的理解？ ZZ: 在中国，文化是一种天然存在；而在海外，文化往往需要被 主动选择。 于是，它也就变成了一种身份认同与内在自信。当我看到有人 因穿上汉服而感到自豪，或一个孩子说出“这是我们的文化”， 我就会再次意识到：文化从来不是抽象概念，它是一种内在的 稳定感。 RW: 未来十年，你最希望建立的是什么？ ZZ: 我希望在海外构建一个文化生态，让中华文化真正成为日 常生活的一部分，不仅属于华人家庭，也能被更广泛的全球群 体理解与感受。 RW: 如果有人觉得自己与原生文化有些疏离，你会对他说什 么？ ZZ: 不必着急。 文化不是一项任务。它本就存在于你体内。只要从很简单的地 方开始，让它自然回来。当你重新与之连接时，你得到的，往往 会是一种更清晰的内心与安静而坚定的自信。 RW: 谢谢你。你所分享的一切提醒我们，文化并不遥远，也不 是装饰性的存在。它活在我们如何穿着、如何相聚、如何把意义 继续传递下去。 ZZ: 文化不必以宏大的方式归来。它可以很轻柔地回来，回来 在一件衣裳里，一餐饭里，一个空间里，或某个共同度过的片刻 中。我们要做的，只是把它重新放回生活本身。 Boya Academy 980 Roosevelt #100BOYA Irvine, CA 909.616.1666 105 BALLIET + WANG LUXURY LIVING
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