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Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture
UPDATED: June 8, 2013 Web Exclusive
Law Is a Key to Protecting Intangible Cultural Heritage
A closer look at the legislation of intangible cultural heritage
Edited by Pan Shuangqin
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CELEBRATING CULTURE: A singing and dancing performance showcasing ethnic flavor takes place at the people's cultural square in Shenyang City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, on June 8, the 8th Cultural Heritage Day in China (YU HAIYANG)

June 8 marks the Eighth Cultural Heritage Day in China, which was set up by the State Council in February 2006 to strengthen cultural heritage protection.

The UNESCO promulgated the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in October 2003. China, as a large country teeming with cultural heritages, joined the Convention in August 2004.

On February 25, 2011, the 11th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, deliberated and approved the Law on Intangible Cultural Heritage of the People's Republic of China. Since then, China's efforts to protect its intangible cultural heritage have entered a law-based period.

As of now, 36 natural and cultural heritages in China -- such as Kunqu Opera, guqin (classical musical instrument), Mongolian folk singing, Dragon Boat Festival and Chinese calligraphy -- have been successfully inducted into the UNESCO's World Heritage List.

In addition, China's cultural sectors include nearly 870,000 items of the intangible cultural heritage resources nationwide.

The State Council also issued three sets of the National Intangible Heritage List, with the number of items totaling 1,219, and announced 1,986 representative heritors. By 2011, China had allocated more than one billion yuan ($157 million) specially used to preserve these cultural heritage items.

However, the protection of China's intangible cultural heritage is facing a grim situation, particularly in terms of those passed down by storytellers, which are rapidly disappearing, said Zhu Bing, Director of the Office of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee under the National People's Congress.

Meanwhile, some countries and institutions collected and purchased large numbers of China's valuable objects of intangible cultural heritages and materials through various means, thus causing serious losses of the country's cultural resources.

Therefore, it is imperative for China to formulate related laws to ensure the preservation and development of the intangible cultural heritages in the country.

According to Zhu, China began working on legislation of the intangible cultural heritage law in 1998. Due to some difficulties in forming the legislation in the initial period, the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the 9th National People's Congress decided to start the legislation from provincial levels before the Central Government.

Yunnan Province, for example, took the lead in examination and approval of its Rules and Regulations Concerning the Protection of Ethnic and Folk Traditional Culture. In November 2000, a Symposium of the Legislation Work on the Protection of National and Folk Culture was jointly held by the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the National People's Congress, the Ministry of Culture and the State Administration of Cultural Relics, which was then followed by all localities. 

(Source: China Culture Daily)



 
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