[Duan Xiaoqing] Research on Classification of Intangible Cultural Heritage and Construction of Intangible Cultural Heritage Rank System

[Abstract] The classification of intangible cultural heritage is not only the basis for the practical work of intangible cultural heritage protection, but also an important part of the theoretical research of intangible cultural heritage.

The various existing classification methods in my country have problems such as incomplete category setting, poor category mutual exclusion, and few classification levels.

In order to adapt to the practical needs of the shift in focus of intangible cultural heritage protection work, the existing classification system needs to be improved.

Taxonomy has relatively mature classification methods and classification mechanisms.

Its research objects have similar micro characteristics such as inheritance, diversity and vitality as intangible cultural heritage, as well as macro characteristics of diverse species and wide distribution.

Drawing on the classification system of taxonomy and combining existing intangible cultural heritage classification methods, a multi-level and scalable intangible cultural heritage classification hierarchy system has been initially constructed, and ways and mechanisms for the construction of the intangible cultural heritage classification system have been explored., enriching and expanding the research objects and scope of intangible cultural heritage.

[Keywords] intangible cultural heritage; classification; taxonomy

Since the State Council published the first batch of representative items of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006, the intangible cultural heritage list system has played an important role in the protection practice of intangible cultural heritage.

However, in the process of building the list system, how to scientifically and reasonably classify the large number, variety and dynamic development of intangible cultural heritage is not only an important part of the construction of intangible cultural heritage list, It is also the premise for the smooth development of intangible cultural heritage protection and management, and an important basis for intangible cultural heritage research.

Taxonomy * is the science of classifying living and extinct plants and animals.

After centuries of development, taxonomy has built a mature hierarchical system and formed a series of norms and methods.

Combing and learning the development and methodology of taxonomy has high reference value for improving the intangible cultural heritage classification system.

1.

Existing intangible cultural heritage classification methods

1) UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage Classification

In 1989, UNESCO adopted the "Recommendation for the Protection of Folk Creation", in which it divides intangible cultural heritage into "language, literature, music, dance, games, myth, etiquette, habits, handicrafts, architecture and other" according to their forms of expression.

There are ten types of art ".

* In 1998, the "Regulations on the Declaration of Representative Works of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" were promulgated, adding "traditional forms of communication and information" to the above ten types.

It also clearly pointed out that "oral and intangible heritage" consists of "cultural Space" and "folk traditional cultural expressions".

* The Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention ") adopted in 2003 divides intangible cultural heritage into five types: " oral traditions and forms of expression, including language as a medium of intangible cultural heritage; performing arts; social practices, rituals, festivals; knowledge and practice about nature and the universe; and traditional handicrafts ".

*

2) China's official intangible cultural heritage classification

In 2005, the State Council issued the "Interim Measures for the Application and Evaluation of Representative Works of National Intangible Cultural Heritage", which divided intangible cultural heritage into two categories: "traditional cultural expressions" and "cultural spaces", and specifically divided them into "oral traditions, including language as a carrier of culture; traditional performing arts; folk activities, etiquette, festivals; traditional folk knowledge and practices about nature and the universe; traditional handicraft skills; and cultural spaces related to the above manifestations".

* The "Work Manual for the Survey of China Ethnic and Folk Culture Protection Projects" released in the same year and the "Survey Manual for the China Intangible Cultural Heritage" released in 2007 divided intangible cultural heritage into: There are sixteen categories including national language, folk literature, folk art, folk music, folk dance, opera, folk art, folk acrobatics, folk handicrafts, production and trade customs, consumption customs, life etiquette and customs, seasons, folk beliefs, folk knowledge, entertainment, traditional sports and competition, with secondary categories set up under each category.

*

The first batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage lists announced by the State Council in 2006 divided intangible cultural heritage into: folk literature, folk music, folk dance, traditional drama, folk art, acrobatics and competition, folk art, traditional handicrafts, traditional medicine, folk customs, etc.

Ten categories *.

This classification method is based on the division of traditional disciplines and provides convenience for the application and review of intangible cultural heritage protection in the early stage.

*

In the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Law of the People's Republic of China" promulgated in 2011, intangible cultural heritage is divided into six categories: "traditional oral literature and the language as its carrier; traditional art, calligraphy, music, dance, drama, folk arts and acrobatics; traditional skills, medicine and calendar; traditional etiquette, festivals and other folk customs; traditional sports and entertainment; and other intangible cultural heritage."* This classification method is a classification based on ten categories and integrating the classification methods of the Convention.

3) Classification of intangible cultural heritage by domestic researchers

Many domestic researchers have tried to propose classification methods for intangible cultural heritage from the perspective of intangible cultural heritage itself.

Xiang Yunju divided intangible cultural heritage into four categories * according to different human carriers: "oral culture; body shape culture; comprehensive culture; current modeling culture", and established detailed secondary and tertiary classifications respectively.

Based on ten categories, Wang Wenzen divided intangible cultural heritage into thirteen categories *: language, ethnic language, dialects, etc.), folk literature, traditional music, traditional dance, traditional drama, folk art, acrobatics, traditional martial arts, sports and competition, folk art, arts and crafts, traditional handicrafts and other craft techniques, traditional medicine and pharmacy, folk customs, cultural space, etc.

It also pointed out that this classification can generally correspond to the five major categories of the Convention.

Based on the classification of the Convention, Yuan Li divided intangible cultural heritage into: folk literature, performing arts, arts and crafts, traditional production knowledge and skills, traditional life knowledge and skills, traditional rituals, traditional festivals, and culture.

There are eight categories including space, and more detailed sub-classifications are carried out under each category.

At the same time, it is also pointed out that these eight types can be merged into four major categories: performing arts, traditional crafts, traditional rituals and cultural spaces *.

Song Junhua divides intangible cultural heritage into four categories: "oral intangible cultural heritage, physical intangible cultural heritage, spiritual intangible cultural heritage, and comprehensive intangible cultural heritage"* according to the different ways people create and inherit intangible cultural heritage.

The secondary and tertiary classifications are carried out under the four major categories according to the characteristics of different categories.

Zhang Min is divided into seven main categories according to the attributes of intangible cultural heritage's social and cultural life: language and writing, traditional art, traditional skills, traditional sports, folk knowledge, folk beliefs, and folk customs.

It continues to be subdivided based on factors such as disciplines, manifestations, functions, and ethnicity, and proposes a four-level classification system.

* Based on the ten major classifications, Zhou Yaohua regarded the level of the project as the first-level classification and the ten major categories as the second-level classification.

He also refined some third-level and fourth-level classifications to build a multi-level classification system based on the existing classifications.

*

In order to adapt to the trend of the digital era, many scholars have also studied the classification of intangible cultural heritage in the process of building intangible cultural heritage resources such as intangible cultural heritage websites and databases, and believe that in the process of building intangible cultural heritage digital resources, it must not only be combined with practice, but also give full play to the characteristics of information technology.

For example, Huang Yonglin added one or two first-level classification items based on the "Ten Categories" classification method, established a scientific and authoritative second-level classification, and established a three-level classification classification system according to needs *.

Qu Jianmin added five screening conditions, including "level","region","ethnicity","time" and "inheritor", to the "sixteen categories", and proposed a multi-dimensional and three-dimensional classification system *.

However, this classification method is suitable for computer environments and is a network classification system constructed through labeling.

Without the computer environment, this classification method will be difficult to implement or apply.

2.

Analysis of the existing intangible cultural heritage classification system

With the publication of the national representative list of intangible cultural heritage, the classification method of the ten categories has gradually become the most widely used classification system in the practice of intangible cultural heritage protection.

However, with the continuous advancement of intangible cultural heritage protection, problems have also arisen in the classification method of the ten categories: 1) The comprehensiveness of the categories is still insufficient, and the existing categories cannot include all forms of intangible cultural heritage.

For example, there is no suitable category for intangible cultural heritage in language and writing; 2) The mutual exclusion of categories needs to be improved, and the division of categories is not scientific and objective, resulting in blurred boundaries between categories and confusion and inconsistency in intangible cultural heritage classification.

For example, in the national directory, jade carvings, stone carvings, bone carvings, etc.

such as Yangzhou jade carvings, Xiuyan jade carvings, Haipai jade carvings, Qingtian stone carvings, and chrysanthemum stone carvings are classified as traditional art, while lacquer carvings are classified as traditional handicrafts.

3)The single-level classification system increases the complexity of categories and affects the orderliness and standardization of the classification system.

In the first batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage lists, there are not only the three Huizhou carvings including stone carvings, jade carvings, and brick carvings, but also the separately listed Shoushan stone carvings and Hui 'an stone carvings; starting from the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage lists, specific intangible cultural heritage items such as chrysanthemum stone carvings and Suide stone carvings are collectively referred to as stone carvings.

It can be seen here that the national-level directory also constructs a multi-level classification system to a certain extent in practice to reduce the complexity of the content in the category, but does not clearly propose or give relevant norms and standards.

In addition, many scholars have also suggested that the balance of existing categories is poor, and the number of intangible cultural heritage items owned by each category is not evenly distributed.

In my opinion, the distribution of intangible cultural heritage items themselves is temporarily unknown, and there is a high probability that their distribution is unbalanced.

Excessive emphasis on balance will cause the classification system to fail to truly reflect the distribution of intangible cultural heritage items.

Therefore, there is no need to deliberately emphasize balance in the process of classifying intangible cultural heritage items.

Compared with the official classification, domestic scholars pay more attention to the ontology of intangible cultural heritage in the process of classifying intangible cultural heritage, pursuing a classification system that can reflect the connotation and essence of intangible cultural heritage, and drawing on the classification ideas and classification methods of art and sociology.

The classification methods of archives resources and cultural relics resources have proposed a variety of multi-level classification systems, but there are also problems of incomplete category settings and fuzzy boundaries between categories, and most of them are simple multi-level classification systems.

Some scholars have also built a networked classification system based on the ten major categories of application and combined with digital technology.

While classifying intangible cultural heritage, they have also constructed a relational network of intangible cultural heritage.

However, this labeling and networked classification method cannot be implemented and applied outside the computer environment and has certain limitations.

3.

Classification of intangible cultural heritage from the perspective of taxonomy

1) Overview of taxonomy

Taxonomy is "the study of the identification, naming and description of animals and plants, and the scientific classification of species into a hierarchical system to reflect the understanding of their phylogeny."* In the 18th century, Carl Linnaeus initially established a hierarchy system for biological classification, dividing organisms into the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom.

Under the realm, classification hierarchies such as classes, orders, genera, and species were established in turn.

Limited by the limitations of the times, Linnaeus's classification system is an artificial classification system.

The basis and standards for classification mainly rely on existing basis or personal experience and opinions.

With the deepening of research on the origin of organisms, Darwin's theory of evolution was proposed and improved, making people realize that all organisms have a common ancestor and that various species have different degrees of kinship.

Under the guidance of evolutionary theory, reflecting the natural relationships between species and explaining the phylogenetic relationships of organisms has become an important task for taxonomy *.

Due to the complexity of the biological world, in the actual classification process, factors such as biological similarity, kinship and degree of evolution are often involved.

In addition, different taxonomists have different understandings of classification principles, so they have different understandings of the factors involved.

There are trade-offs, and ultimately different or even opposing classification results are obtained, forming the evolutionary classification school, the cladistic classification school and the numerical classification school.

The evolutionary classification school is based on the theory of evolution and combines both factors: genealogy branches and evolutionary scales as classification standards.

Therefore, it has rich biological significance and is the mainstream of classification.

However, the process of establishing the classification system relies more on the researcher's personal experience, making the research results difficult to verify *.

The cladistic school mainly uses the branch order of the evolutionary tree as the classification standard, and has strict classification methods and principles.

However, numerical taxonomy believes that the classification system cannot reproduce the phylogeny of organisms, so it uses a large number of objective characteristics of organisms as the basis and uses calculations and quantitative comparisons as classification standards.

Because subjectivity is eliminated as much as possible in the classification process, the classification results are often used to verify the rationality of other classifications.

2) The theoretical basis for the application of taxonomy to intangible cultural heritage classification

There are many similar characteristics between taxonomic research objects and intangible cultural heritage.

First of all, both are inheritable.

Intangible cultural heritage has the characteristics of being passed down from generation to generation, and it has the characteristics of maintaining itself unchanged in the process of intergenerational inheritance.

Organisms produce descendants through reproduction, and use genetic material to ensure that the descendants are similar to themselves, maintaining the stability of the species.

Secondly, both are diverse.

Different intangible cultural heritage or the same intangible cultural heritage show different forms in different periods and regions.

Organisms also have complex and diverse characteristics.

Not only are there very obvious differences between different species, but even the same species will cause many huge differences according to different living periods and different living areas.

Take human beings themselves as an example.

Ancient humans were very different in appearance and shape from modern humans.

According to the different living environments in Europe, Asia, Africa and other regions, various races of different skin colors were formed.

Thirdly, both are active.

On the one hand, the vitality of intangible cultural heritage is reflected in the practical activities of intangible cultural heritage, and on the other hand, it is reflected in the mutation and innovation of intangible cultural heritage in the process of inheritance, so that it can continue to develop.

This development direction is influenced by the inheritors, enjoyment, social environment and other factors.

Organisms are not only flexible and changeable at the behavioral level of individuals, but also cause mutations and changes in future generations due to gene mutations, exchanges and other activities during the survival of the entire species.

The species of organisms are influenced by factors such as the environment and realize the evolution and development of species.

Although there are differences in specific mechanisms of action, the characteristics shown by intangible cultural heritage and biological species are highly similar, making the classification method of organisms more useful for intangible cultural heritage classification than the classification method of archival resources.

Reference value.

In addition, taxonomy and intangible cultural heritage classification involve a huge number of objects, a wide variety, and a wide and complex distribution range.

For example, in the biological classification, there are more than 1.5 million species in the animal kingdom alone, including various forms of birds and beasts, and the distribution range is spread all over the world.

For a specific region, the distribution range among organisms is Interwoven with each other, and the relationship between organisms is also closely connected.

The distribution of intangible cultural heritage also shows similar characteristics, which provide a theoretical basis for the application of taxonomy in intangible cultural heritage classification.

2) Enlightenment of taxonomy on intangible cultural heritage classification

By sorting out and introducing the development of taxonomy and the main classification schools, we can see that the development of taxonomy is inseparable from the research of biological theory.

The introduction of evolutionary theory enriches the biological significance of taxonomy and provides guidance for taxonomy.

The development of related disciplines such as cytology and genetics has also deepened the understanding of organisms, provided more materials and basis for the classification of organisms, and promoted the continuous improvement of the classification system.The ten categories of classification methods used in the current intangible cultural heritage list system emerged with the publication of the list when the intangible cultural heritage work was in the investigation and application stage.

They were based on the classification of existing disciplines.

The classification system constructed for the practice of investigation and archiving of intangible cultural heritage protection lacks theoretical research on intangible cultural heritage as guidance.

With the continuous deepening of theoretical research on intangible cultural heritage, the more thorough understanding of the nature of intangible cultural heritage, and the shift in focus of intangible cultural heritage protection work have prompted the revision and improvement of the intangible cultural heritage list system, including the classification of intangible cultural heritage.

To this end, it is not only necessary for relevant scholars of intangible cultural heritage to deepen theoretical research on the ontology of intangible cultural heritage, but also necessary to continuously absorb research results from other related disciplines to jointly provide support and guarantee for the classification of intangible cultural heritage.

Secondly, no matter what kind of classification school, its classification system is a hierarchical system, and different hierarchical classification standards have been formed according to their own views.

In taxonomy, species are used as the most basic unit.

Organisms are classified into different genera based on the similarity between species.

On the basis of genera, their similarities are once again summarized to classify them into different families.

After layer by layer, the hierarchical system of biological classification is finally formed.

Sub-orders can be further set between different orders to expand the existing classification system and ensure the comprehensiveness of categories.

For example, the more important orders in the biological classification system from large to small are: realm, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.

Under each order, corresponding subphylum, subclass, suborder, subfamily, subgenus and subspecies can be set.

Above the order, general class, etc.

can also be set.

In addition, various categories are also distinguished by relatively objective standards, which is highly operable.

For example, there are two subclasses in the animal kingdom, arthropod phylum, and Insecta: Aterations and Aterations.

That is, based on the presence or absence of wing structure is used as the criterion for judgment.

The existing ten categories of intangible cultural heritage are mainly a single-level classification system.

Projects are directly included under each category.

There are many types of items and even difficult to distinguish.

To this end, by establishing a multi-level classification system, it is not only possible to more clearly sort out the relationship between various intangible cultural heritage, but also make the classification system more complete, with better organization and scalability.

4.

Construction methods and reflections on the hierarchical system of intangible cultural heritage classification

1) Construction of the classification level system of intangible cultural heritage

This article will try to use the published national-level intangible cultural heritage list as material, combine various classification methods such as the five categories of the Convention and the ten categories of the list, and draw on the rank system of taxonomy to build a classification rank system for intangible cultural heritage itself.

System *.

By building a hierarchical system for intangible cultural heritage classification, the identification and identification of intangible cultural heritage can be realized.

At the same time, since the level of the rank system increases, the similarity between the objects it contains becomes less and less, the rank system of intangible cultural heritage classification can also express the correlation or similarity between intangible cultural heritage items.

In the process of building the intangible cultural heritage classification system, the rank names of the biological classification rank system "realm, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species" can be used as the names of the intangible cultural heritage classification rank.

First of all, it is necessary to determine the most basic classification unit of intangible cultural heritage classification, that is, the "species" in the order system.

In the four batches of 1836 national-level intangible cultural heritage representative projects published by the state, while classifying intangible cultural heritage projects into ten categories, similar projects were also merged to form 1372 projects.

Here, these 1372 items * will be selected as the minimum classification unit of the classification system.

The process of building a hierarchical system is a bottom-up induction process, classifying similar species into genera, then classifying similar genera into families, and so on.

Due to the large number of existing intangible cultural heritage projects, this paper only takes some intangible cultural heritage projects in traditional drama as examples to provide examples of low-level hierarchy construction: in the existing directory, traditional drama contains a total of 238 intangible cultural heritage projects, which are divided into 162 categories, and these 162 categories are used as "species" in the hierarchy system.

In the study of traditional opera, tone has always been an important criterion for the classification of opera.

Here, tone is still used as the classification criterion for the construction of the classification system.

Among these 162 "species": Puzhou Bangzi IV-19), North Road Bangzi IV-20), Hebei Bangzi IV-22), Wanbang IV-24), Huaibang IV-25), Lao Diao IV-93), Xuzhou Bangzi IV-121), Tongzhou Bangzi IV-122), West Road Bangzi IV-154), Huaibei Bangzi Opera IV-155), etc.

can be classified as Bangzi Opera according to their tone characteristics, which formed a "genus" and called it the "Bangzi Opera Gen." By analogy, we can conclude the "Pihuangxiang genus","Gaoxiang genus","multi-tone genus", etc.

In order to better distinguish the relationship between each other, we can establish two genera: "Phonetic genus" and "Non-Phonetic genus" on the "genus".

Above the "genus", it can be further classified into "human costumes * category" and "puppet dramas category".

Different classification standards can be adopted within different rank categories according to needs.

For example,"Puppetry" can be divided into "Puppetry genus" and "Shadow Puppetry genus" based on the puppet material.

In the "subject" direction, it can be classified into categories such as "Traditional Drama Items","Performing Arts Outline" and "Intangible Cultural Heritage Doors".

For the specific classification system of traditional drama, please refer to the appendix.

On the basis of drawing lessons from taxonomy, combining existing intangible cultural heritage classification methods, and taking into account the positioning of intangible cultural heritage in world heritage and the specific needs of the intangible cultural heritage classification level, the intangible cultural heritage classification level system is limited to the "door" below *, that is, the intangible cultural heritage itself belongs to the "door" level, and the "outline" level below it can refer to the five categories of classification methods of the Convention; At the "head" level, we can learn from the existing ten categories classification methods and use them as category names through appropriate splitting and merging.

Low-level ranks can learn from the classification standards of traditional disciplines, thereby forming a rank system for intangible cultural heritage classification.

In the rank system, the categories of rank elements at all levels can be increased, decreased and adjusted according to actual conditions and needs.

The classification above the "purpose" level and some below the "purpose" level in this system is generally as follows:

Taking Henan Opera as an example, its positions in this classification system are: "Intangible Cultural Heritage Gate, Performing Arts Outline, Traditional Drama Category, Human-Performing Opera Category, Phonetic Opera Category, Bangzi Opera Category, Henan Opera Category".

Specifically, it can also be divided into more specific subspecies according to regions or genres, and no examples will be given here.

2) Intangible cultural heritage taxonomy

The intangible cultural heritage classification system constructed above is just a simple application of the hierarchical system of biological classification to intangible cultural heritage classification.

It aims to propose a construction method and basic framework of the classification system.

During the construction process, only the existing intangible cultural heritage classification results are used as reference indicators and materials, and limited space does not classify all intangible cultural heritage items from bottom-up, which will inevitably lead to many unreasonable and inappropriate aspects of the classification in terms of category setting and classification standards.

There are still many imperfections in the setting of classification category names, classification standards, and classification levels.

The above-constructed hierarchical classification system of intangible cultural heritage is just a simple attempt.

For example, does the classification system need to reflect the development and evolution relationship between intangible cultural heritage? What principles should be followed in the selection of basic units of classification? How should the selection criteria and classification criteria for orders such as "genus","family" and "order" be determined? What levels are required? Do you need to add new levels between levels? And how should the names of different levels be selected? Many theoretical or practical issues such as these still require further study.

However, with the deepening and advancement of related research on intangible cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage classification, the classification of intangible cultural heritage will not only be a practical work of intangible cultural heritage protection, but will also gradually form its own basic theory and methodology, and become a study of intangible cultural heritage.

Identification and description, scientific division into a hierarchical system and reflection of their mutual connections, namely intangible cultural heritage classification.

conclusion

With the promotion of intangible cultural heritage protection work, the shift of work focus, and the deepening of intangible cultural heritage research, it is necessary to adjust and perfect the classification system of intangible cultural heritage accordingly.

Through the sorting and analysis of taxonomy, it can provide help for the adjustment and construction of intangible cultural heritage classification system, and also enrich the connotation and significance of intangible cultural heritage classification.

With the in-depth study of the essence of intangible cultural heritage, the classification system of intangible cultural heritage will also undertake the task of reflecting the essence of intangible cultural heritage while undertaking the task of classifying intangible cultural heritage items.

This also requires that the classification of intangible cultural heritage should start from the intangible cultural heritage ontology, construct a scientific, objective, comprehensive and scalable hierarchical system of intangible cultural heritage classification by drawing lessons from the mature hierarchical system system in biological classification, so as to better archive and classify intangible cultural heritage items, better support the construction of intangible cultural heritage directory system and the protection and research of intangible cultural heritage, and enrich and expand the research scope and objects of intangible cultural heritage.

(This article was published in "Cultural Heritage", No.

4, 2018.

The annotations are omitted and refer to the original issue for details)