Most educated people in traditional China 25岁前的教育还是很“中国传统”的, but does that mean they were all cultured?
It only means they had that opportunity which needed to be internalized.
I judged 李安 by his films. Most are mediocre, sometimes pretentious -- reminding me some French films.
I think his most natural work was Sense and Sensibility, but it has nothing to do with Chinese culture.