The history of application for the cultural heritage of China's "fifth largest invention"

The location map of the website shows students at Xiangzhangyayuan Primary School in Hefei City, Anhui Province, displaying their hand-painted eggs on the summer of May 5 this year.

Photo by Xinhua Agency reporter Liu Junxi

On the afternoon of November 30, good news came from Ethiopia.

At the 11th ordinary session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage, China declared the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms-The Time Knowledge System and Its Practice Formed by China Observing the Sun Anniversary Movement" was officially included in the UNESCO Representative List of Human Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Evolved from the farming society in ancient China and after thousands of years of historical changes, the "24 solar terms" still have very important cultural significance and social functions in today's society.

To this end, many efforts have been made in all aspects of China society.

On December 1, our reporter connected with members of the China government delegation who were meeting at the meeting in Ethiopia.

At the meeting, they exclusively told this newspaper the story behind the successful application.

The preparations for the application for the cultural heritage are sufficient

The 24 solar terms are a knowledge system and social practice formed by recognizing the changes in seasons, climate, phenology and other aspects during the year.

In the international meteorological community, this time cognitive system is known as "China's fifth major invention."

"In 2006, the '24th Solar Terms of the Lunar Calendar' declared by the Agricultural Museum of China was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists announced by the State Council, laying a good foundation for subsequent application work." Ma Shengde, head of the China delegation at the meeting in Ethiopia, told reporters.

It is understood that members of the China government delegation that went to Ethiopia to attend the 11th ordinary session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage include representatives from the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the External Relations Bureau of the Ministry of Culture, China Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, experts from the China Academy of Social Sciences and representatives from the China Agricultural Museum.

China ratified the Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention") in 2004.

According to the needs of my country's intangible cultural heritage protection work, the Ministry of Culture has sorted out intangible cultural heritage projects, and the "24 solar terms" have been listed as the key heritage application project.

Since then, China has strengthened the identification, documentation and research of this heritage project.

At the beginning of 2014, under the coordination of China Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, the application work was officially launched.

In May 2014, the China Agricultural Museum took the lead in establishing the "24 Solar Terms Protection Working Group" in collaboration with relevant communities and groups to comprehensively carry out the preparation of the application text.

The China Folk Society joined as a group representative.

Communities, groups and representative inheritors involved in the seven expansion projects of the "24 Solar Terms" also actively participated in the preparation of the application text and protection plan.

In March 2015, China submitted application materials to UNESCO, including application texts, community informed consent forms, excerpts of the list, photos and videos and other documents.

The process of applying for a cultural heritage is not simple

It is understood that the Ministry of Culture is the business authority for intangible cultural heritage declaration, the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center is responsible for the organization and implementation of intangible cultural heritage declaration, experts from China Academy of Social Sciences and other professional institutions provide academic support for the cultural heritage application, and the China Agricultural Museum and China Folk Society are the main group representatives of the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" project.

However, the process of applying for a cultural heritage has not been smooth sailing.

Four weeks before the current regular session, the Convention Secretariat published the documents of the meeting on the UNESCO website.

China has noticed that the outline of the items on the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" in the draft resolution of the meeting is not accurate enough.

The draft will serve as an official resolution document at the regular meeting after the project is adopted and may be used for the promotion of future heritage projects.

In order to ensure correct understanding and understanding of this heritage project, China immediately submitted a revision plan to the Convention Secretariat to the draft resolution's outline of the project.

During the meeting, the participating delegations communicated repeatedly with the Secretariat before project review, and finally confirmed the revised text, which was proposed by the chairman of the regular meeting when reviewing the Chinese project.

In the end, the committee approved China's revised text and included the "24 solar terms" in the list of representative works.

Successful application for cultural heritage has profound meaning

The meeting documents were published on the UNESCO website four weeks before the regular session, so before the meeting, members of the China delegation had already learned that the "24 solar terms" were recommended to be included in the list of representative works.

"Although there is no suspense about the inclusion of our project, every member of the delegation was excited the moment it was approved." A delegation member told reporters,"Because everyone has the feeling that the '24 solar terms' are related to the cultural identity of every China and are of great significance; it is precisely because of this that inclusion in the list of representative works means that the protection of this heritage project has embarked on a new journey, and there is a long way to go."

UNESCO believes that intangible cultural heritage not only maintains the sense of identity and continuity of relevant communities, groups and individuals, but also is an important resource for ensuring the world's cultural diversity and human creativity.

According to the definition of intangible cultural heritage in the Convention, intangible cultural heritage is mainly reflected in oral traditions and forms of expression (including language as a medium of intangible cultural heritage), performing arts, social practices, rituals, festivals, knowledge and practice related to nature and the universe, and five categories of traditional handicrafts.

The declaration of the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" is generally classified as a heritage field of "knowledge and practice about nature and the universe."