Special topic 丨 The Soaring of Dragons: Intangible Cultural Heritage of China and the World

Cultural heritage includes material cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage.

Material cultural heritage is tangible and visible, such as Longmen Grottoes, Dunhuang murals, etc.

Although intangible cultural heritage exists in an "intangible form", it is closely related to people's lives and is a traditional cultural expression passed down from generation to generation, including folk activities, ceremonial festivals, etc.

If the Spring Festival is the largest intangible cultural heritage of the Chinese nation, I am afraid many people will agree!

Since 2006, the second Saturday of June every year has become our country's "Cultural Heritage Day".

The Chinese nation's cultural consciousness and cultural self-confidence are striving to improve, and the protection, inheritance and promotion of intangible cultural heritage have embarked on an accelerating fast lane!

At present, our country not only has "Cultural Heritage Signs", but also "Cultural Heritage Protection Public Welfare Songs" and "China Intangible Cultural Heritage Special Exhibition".

China's material cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage are shining more and more brightly in the world.

my country's policy for the protection of intangible cultural heritage is: "protection first, rescue first, rational utilization, inheritance and development."

By 2015, my country will basically form a relatively complete cultural heritage protection system, and cultural heritage with historical, cultural and scientific value will be comprehensively and effectively protected.

Protecting cultural heritage is becoming a conscious action of the whole society.

Not only the Chinese nation has created brilliant material and intangible civilizations, but all ethnic groups in the world have created unique material and intangible civilizations.

The garden of human civilization is the unity of diversity and a common portrayal of the long and splendid human civilization! This issue's special plan specially invited some foreign scholars to write articles.

It can be seen that we have jointly created human civilization, and we are also facing common issues and challenges in the inheritance and protection of cultural heritage!

"Dragon" is the most distinctive cultural symbol of the Chinese nation.

We believe that in the Year of the Dragon, which heralds luck, take-off and forge ahead, Chinese culture will surely make greater contributions to the progress of human civilization together with the cultures of all ethnic groups around the world! (Xiang Jiangtao)

China's "Intangible Cultural Heritage" List

UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Urgent Need of Protection was established in accordance with the requirements of the Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted by UNESCO in October 2003.

It and the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity The main difference is that the intangible cultural heritage included in this list is in a dangerous condition and urgently needs protection.

As of 2011, 27 projects from 16 countries had been included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Urgent Need of Protection, and 232 projects from about 140 countries had been included in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

To date, 139 countries have ratified the Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

As of November 2011, there are nearly 870,000 intangible cultural heritage resources in China, a total of 29 projects are included in the list of representative works, and 7 projects are included in the list of urgently needed protection.

There are 70,000 "intangible cultural heritage" projects that have entered the national, provincial, municipal and county intangible cultural heritage list system.

UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Urgent Need of Protection China Project:

Qiang Nian, China's beam and wooden arch bridge construction skills, Li traditional spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidery skills, Maixi Refu, China's water-tight cabin ship manufacturing skills, China movable type printing, China's Imakan rap art.

UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity China Project:

Kunqu Opera, Guqin, Muqam, Mongolian long-tune folk songs, traditional China mulberry silk weaving skills, Nanyin, Nanjing Yunjin weaving skills, traditional rice paper making skills, Dong song, Cantonese opera, Gesar (Si) er, Longquan celadon traditional firing skills, Regong art, Tibetan opera, Manas, Hua 'er, Xi'an drum music, China Korean agricultural music and dance, China calligraphy, China seal cutting, China paper-cutting, China traditional wood structure creation skills, Dragon Boat Festival, Mazu belief customs, China woodblock printing skills, Humai, Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture, Peking Opera, China Shadow Play.

West Lake Cultural Landscape in Hangzhou, China inscribed in UNESCO World Heritage List

On June 24, 2011, the World Heritage Committee included the Hangzhou West Lake cultural landscape, a cultural heritage declared by China, on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

This site consists of the West Lake and mountains surrounded on three sides.

Since the 9th century AD, the lakes and mountains of the West Lake have attracted countless literati, poets, and art masters to sing, sigh and splash ink.

The scenic area is full of temples, pavilions, pagodas, and gardens, dotted with exotic flowers and trees, banks and islands, adding infinite beauty to Hangzhou City in the south of the Yangtze River.

For hundreds of years, the West Lake Scenic Area has had an influence on the garden design of other parts of China and even Japan and South Korea.

Among the cultural traditions of landscape creation, the West Lake is the best interpretation of the ideal state of unity between man and nature.

[Related Articles][Fang Lili] New heights of "intangible cultural heritage" protection: from "cultural consciousness" to "cultural confidence"[Leiden] Material and non-material: inheritance, rupture, continuation and coexistence [Shi Yilong Abibula Kader] Cultural subject: The most core factor in the intrinsic value of heritage [Nagahiro Ogino] The gains and losses of Japan's cultural policy gaps [Park Zhen-ho] Digital restoration in 4D form [Le Qing] Productive protection: A useful exploration of living inheritance [Angela Marie Lloyd] The risks and opportunities of commercialization: An example of the Mulavi Sema ritual in Konya, Turkey

Special planner of this issue: Xiang Jiangtao