Intangible cultural heritage refers to great varieties of cultural expressions that are passed down by people of all ethnic groups for generations (e.g. folk customs, performing art, traditional knowledge and skills and related instruments, objects, artefacts, etc.) and cultural space. The scope of intangible cultural heritage covers: oral traditions and languages as vehicles of culture; traditional performing art (including opera, music, dance, quyi, acrobatics, etc.); folk practices, rituals and festivals; folk traditional knowledge and practices related to nature and universe; traditional handcraft skills, and cultural space related to the above-mentioned expressions (referring to the venues of public traditional cultural activities or the period of time when certain events regularly take place, whose existence depends on the presence of relevant traditional cultural expressions).

China is a unified multi-ethnic nation. The rich and colorful cultural heritage created by 56 ethnic groups in the course of their production and life is the crystallization of the wisdom and civilization of the Chinese people, the bond of affections between all ethnic groups and the foundation of national unity. The unique spiritual value, mentality, imagination and cultural awareness that are embodied in China’s intangible cultural heritage stand as a fundamental basis for the maintenance of China’s cultural identity and sovereignty. China’s intangible cultural heritage, coupled with tangible cultural heritage, has constituted the entire cultural wealth of the Chinese nation and indispensable component of cultural heritage of the mankind and played a significant role in human progress.

With the acceleration of globalization and modernization, dramatic changes have taken place in China’s cultural ecology: intangible cultural heritage is confronted with great challenges and a lot of orally and behaviorally transmitted cultural heritage disappear one after another; a great deal of traditional craftsmanship is on the verge of extinction; a large number of precious objects and materials of historical and cultural values are destroyed, deserted or lost in foreign countries; arbitrary misuse and excessive exploitation of intangible cultural heritage occur from time to time. Therefore, the protection of intangible cultural heritage brooks no delay.

I. Achievements in China’s Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage

The Central Committee of the CPC, the State Council, and the CPC Committees and governments at various levels have attached great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage and organized and conducted a lot of commendable work since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

1. Five Book Series on Ethnic Issues by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of PRC (i.e. General Survey, Brief History, Record of Language, Social and Historical Research and Autonomous Region Series) and Collection of Journals of Investigation Materials on the Social and Historical Development of China’s Ethnic Groups were published according to the survey and investigation records on the folk culture of various ethnic groups since the 1950s.

2. After the policy of reform and opening up was adopted, Ministry of Culture, State Ethnic Affairs Commission, China Federation of Literary and Art Circles jointly proposed the compilation of Ten Collections on China’s Folk and Ethnic Culture and Arts. By the end of 2004, 298 provincial volumes have been completed with 224 volumes totaling about 400 million words already published and the rest of publications expected to be finished by 2006. Through rescue, exploration, documentation and research, a lot of precious cultural resources have been preserved and a strong team of researchers with rich academic accomplishments has been forged. All these have laid a solid foundation for the protection of intangible cultural heritage.

3. The Progress on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Recent Years

1) Active participation in the international protection of intangible cultural heritage
In 2000, UNESCO launched the program of “Proclamation of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”. In May 2001, Kunqu was listed as one of the first group of 19 masterpieces. In November 2003, Guqin was listed as one of the second group of 28 masterpieces. In October 2003, the 32th UNESCO General Conference adopted the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. China was an active participant in the entire process of the formulation of the Convention. In August 2004, China officially joined the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage after ratification of the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress.

2) Reinforce the legislation on the protection of intangible cultural heritage in China
The legislation on the protection of intangible cultural heritage has always been high on the agenda of the Chinese government. In 1997, the State Council promulgated the Provisions on the Protection of Traditional Arts and Crafts. Since 1998, the Ministry of Culture and Committee of Education, Science, Culture, Health and Sports of National People’s Congress have been actively engaged in the research and investigation of domestic and foreign legislations and on this basis organized the drafting of Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Folk and Ethnic Traditional Culture (Draft). In light of the basic spirit of UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the draft law has been renamed as Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage. At present, a legislative leadership panel composed of personnel from the National People’s Congress, Department of Publicity of the CPC Central Committee and Ministry of Culture has been established to further work on the draft law. The promulgation of the Recommendations on Intensifying the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage in China by the General Office of the State Council will surely inject new impetus into the process of legislation. In addition, statutes on the protection of folk and ethnic traditional culture were also promulgated one after another by Yunnan, Guizhou, Fujian provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In some places, local regulations on the protection of specific forms of folk and ethnic traditional cultural expression were also developed.

3) Actively promote the “Project of Protecting Folk and Ethnic Culture in China”
At the beginning of 2003, Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the State Ethnic Affairs Commission and China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, launched the project of protecting folk and ethnic culture. Over the past two years, through the means of pilot experiments and its gradual extension to other areas in the whole country, progress has been made in the following fields:

a) Leadership panel, expert committee and national center for the project have been set up. Organizational institutions have also been established in provinces, regions and municipalities in China;

b) 40 state level pilot programs have been determined through experts’ assessment, among which there are 6 regional comprehensive pilot programs (e.g. Yunnan province, Suzhou city, Xiangxi Tujia Miao autonomous region, etc.), 34 professional pilot programs (Xinjiang Uyghur Muquam, Jiongba Tibetan Opera of Ngamring County of Tibet, Xi’an Drum Music, Tianjin Yangliuqing Woodblock Spring Festival Pictures, etc.). At present, working plans in different regions have been formulated under experts’ guidance and protection is well underway. A lot of folk and ethnic culture of great historical and cultural values has been effectively protected.

c) Special fund on the protection project has been set aside with the support of the Ministry of Finance. Quite a lot of provinces, regions and cities also earmarked certain sum of money for the protection project, which vigorously supported the smooth proceeding of the project.

d) Training courses catered for different levels are being provided to the working staff; themed museums of folk and ethnic culture have been established one after another.

e) With the vigorous support of cultural departments at different localities, the protection project has attracted wide attention and active feedback from party committees at various levels, governments, and people from all walks of life. The awareness on the protection of folk and ethnic culture has found its way deep into the people's heart.

II. Recent Priorities of Work in the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage

1. Nationwide general investigation of intangible cultural heritage

General investigation is fundamental to the protection of intangible cultural heritage and needs to be done in orderly way under coordinated arrangement. In this respect, specific work plans for different regions and diversified types of heritage will be drafted on the basis of existing work results and research achievements, so as to avoid redundant work, and a variety of means such as text, sound recording, video recording and digital multimedia will be used to make an authentic, systematic and comprehensive record of intangible cultural heritage, and to obtain the full knowledge of the types, number, distribution, living environment, current situation of protection and existing problems related to the intangible cultural heritage of different regions and ethnicities. The statistics of intangible cultural heritage resources will be collected, and databases and archives established by modern technological means.

The Ministry of Culture will start the overall planning of the general investigation work, which will be a large-scale survey of cultural resources of the 21st century. In order to ensure the scientific and orderly implementation of this project, and enhance professional guidance, the Ministry of Culture has organized many experts and scholars to compile a Handbook on the General Investigation of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which will be published and distributed nationwide for the reference of investigators.

2. Establish the inventory system of China’s intangible cultural heritage masterpieces

A graded protection mechanism will be adopted for the protection of intangible cultural heritage, including criteria for the identification of intangible cultural heritage masterpieces. An inventory system on the national, provincial, municipal and county levels will be established after scientific assessment. The State Council will identify and proclaim the national masterpieces of intangible cultural heritage, and the provincial, municipal and county level masterpieces will be identified and proclaimed by corresponding governments and be reported for reference to governments of higher levels.

According to the Provisionary Measures on the Application and Identification of National Intangible Cultural Heritage Masterpieces, the State will soon launch the work of application and identification of the first group of national masterpieces. Candidatures for the national masterpieces of intangible cultural heritage must meet the following criteria:

1) Possessing outstanding value as a masterpiece of the cultural creativity of the Chinese nation;

2) Rooted in the cultural traditions of communities concerned and has been passed down from generation to generation, possessing distinctive local flavors;

3) Conducive to the affirmation of cultural identity of the Chinese people, instrumental to the enhancement of social cohesion, national solidarity and social stability, constituting important bond of cultural exchange;

4) Excellence in the application of traditional techniques and skills, demonstration of superb qualities;

5) Possessing unique values as testimony to the living cultural traditions of the Chinese nation;

6) Bearing great significance in the cultural inheritance of the Chinese nation, and facing the risk of disappearing due to social change or lack of protective measures.

In submitting candidature entries, a practical and feasible “Ten-year Protection Plan” should also be prepared, as well as pronounced commitments to the implementation of substantial protective measures.

The procedure of application for the proclamation of national masterpieces of intangible cultural heritage is as follows:

1) Proposals for intangible cultural heritage masterpieces can be submitted by citizens, private and public entities as well as social organizations to cultural administrative organs of their respective administrative regions, which will then be submitted to cultural authorities of higher levels;

2) Provincial cultural administrative departments are responsible for gathering within its capacity all submitted proposals for intangible cultural heritage masterpieces, which will then be assessed and selected by experts before the approval of corresponding governments for submission to the Inter-ministerial Joint Committee; proposals by entities directly under the central government can be submitted directly to the Inter-ministerial Joint Committee;

3) Inter-ministerial Joint Committee should refer the approved and eligible candidature entries to a jury committee, who will examine the candidature against a standard criteria and requirements and put forward a list of recommended candidature;

4) The list of recommended candidature determined henceforth will be publicized and be recommended for identification as national masterpieces of intangible cultural heritage, awaiting approval and proclamation of the State Council.

It is from the list of national masterpieces of intangible cultural heritage that candidatures for the UNESCO “Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” will be selected.