Kazakh Kuresi represents ancient form and style of Kazakh traditional wrestling, essential element of all festive events, celebrations and integral part of modern Kazakhstani national identity. Since ancient times, the beauty of this sports and strength of the hero-wrestlers “Baluans” have been reflected in folk epics, fairy legends, Kazakh literature like the poem of Iliyas Zhansugurov “Kulager” and Gabit Musrepov’s novel “Ulpan”, and archaeological findings. Wrestling of two opponents is performed on 12m.x 12m. sized mat. The opponents are matched according to their weight category ranging from 60 kg and above 90 kg. All techniques are performed above the waist – wrestlers must fight on foot, making it more difficult. Wrestling on the ground is prohibited. The purpose is to lay the opponent on shoulders. Duration of the match is 5 minutes with extra time of 3 minutes which is offered in case of even number of points. Evaluation of matches is counted by: a) “Buk” – if the opponent touches the mat with abdomen, knee or both knees; b) “Zhambas” is given for three “Buks” or when the opponent touches the mat with one side of pelvis or both; b) “Zhartylay zhenis” is awarded for the technique when the opponent touches the mat with both shoulders.

Kazakhstan 2016

Songket is a traditional Malaysian handwoven fabric. It is woven on two-pedal floor looms by the Malay women In Malay Peninsula (West Malaysia) and in Sarawak (East Malaysia). The term Songket is derived from the technique employed to make it: inserting gold or silver thread in between the weft and warp threads. Songket is woven using the Malay weaving loom called 'kek'. Songket is woven as the supplementary weft method, a decorative weaving technique in which extra threads "float" across a colourful woven ground to create ornamental effect. The delicate piece of Songket is the result of many months of skilled handloom weaving by expert craftsmen who learn the art from their ancestors. The identity is traced by its design patterns that use geometry and elements of nature such as flowers, birds and insects. The motifs of tampuk manggis (mangosteen calyx), tampuk kesemak (persimmon), bunga pecah lapan (eight-petal flower), bunga bintang (star-patterned flower), pucuk rebung (bamboo shoots) and awan larat (trailing clouds) are among the most frequently used. These traditional patterns continue to be used, especially in aspects of separation and placing the various parts of the cloth such as the centerfield, main panel and end borders. Unlike the old days, Songket is only worn by royalty and their families. But todays, it is mostly worn as traditional Malay ceremonial costumes during royal installations, wedding, birth, Malay festive occasions and formal state functions.

Malaysia 2021

Literally the word Ta’azyeh means “mourning”, and figuratively it refers to a kind of ritual and religious theatre based on religious events, historical and mythical stories, and Iranian folk tales, and there are four basic elements in it: poem, music, song and motion. Ta’azyeh is a type of theatre with many different characters, each of which having its own features, differences, colors, clothes, tools and requirements. It is performed in the form of symbols, conventions, codes and signs which are known by Iranian spectators, and on a stage which is placed in the centre without any lighting and decoration. The place where a Ta’azyeh is performed is called Tekyeh. Apart from some feel-good Ta’azyehs, the main subject of most of them is the conflict between “good” and “evil” and the source of Ta’azyeh scripts has often been the event of Karbala where the third Imam of Shiites, Imam Hussein, and his family were killed after a strong resistance in a battle between seventy two members of the “good” and twenty thousand members of the “evil” army in the Moharram month of the year 60 in the lunar Hegira calendar (a Muslim system of dividing the year of 354 days into 12 months and starting to count the years from the Hegira i.e. the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in AD 622). It is lunar because it is based on the movement of moon around the earth. This calendar is used in Arab countries. There is also a solar type of Hegira calendar based on the movement of earth around the sun which is officially used in Iran). Therefore, this theatre is performed in Moharram more than other months of the year in Tekyehs, streets, and in the garden of houses. Performing Ta’azyeh has a prominent role in the Iranian vulgar culture, literature and art. The concept and the performance style of Ta’azyeh leads to the maintenance of spiritual values, altruism and friendship. It motivates the religious emotions of the masses, purifies the soul, inspires the audience to ethics and a sense of resistance against oppression, and creates cooperation and sympathy among the performers and the spectators. Taazyieh preserves the old traditions, the national culture and the mythology of Iran, and plays a major role in preserving other types of art as well. Its effect on the audience is so great that many of the proverbs of ordinary people are taken from this type of theatre. Moreover, because of its flexibility, it has been able to adjust itself with different cultures of Iranian tribes; therefore, Ta’azyeh has become the common language of different tribes and has been prominent in creating “unity” among them and helping them communicate and share creativities. Ta’azyeh performers are divided into two main groups: agreeing performers (the Good forces) and disagreeing performers (the Evil forces). Agreeing characters wear green, white and blue costumes as a symbol of goodness and peace and sing Iranian folk songs. Disagreeing characters on the other hand wear red, orange and bright colors as a symbol of cruelty and brutality and speak aggressively in a declamatory style. Music is used in two forms: with songs and with musical instruments. Moeen-ol-boka, the director of Ta’azyeh, who has complete knowledge of music, poetry and all the techniques of Ta’azyeh, is actively present on the stage. Women are less involved in Taazyieh and the roles of women are also played by men drawing a veil over their faces. Each Ta’azyeh script has its own subject and requires its own special tools, costumes, conventions, symbols and music. Observing the rules of performance, the audience also cooperates in some scenes by chorusing the song or the poem. There are even some people who have taken vows of food (taking a vow to give food to people, especially poor people is very common in Iran) who serve the spectators during the play and fulfill their vows. Business people and official fraternities and small public groups called “religious groups”, the number of which reaches three thousand, attempt to perform Ta’azyeh in many areas and provide the tools and costumes, and also decorate the area where Ta’azyeh is going to be performed. In general, all the script writers, actors, spectators, and sponsors of this ritual play are from the people in the street who have different jobs during the year and perform this theatre only to reap otherworldly rewards. Taazyieh has also caused many skills to develop. For instance: calligraphy artists by writing Ta’azyeh scripts, musicians by holding classes of singing and playing instruments, painters by painting the events on large curtains, “curtain narrators” by narrating the stories painted on the curtains with a good voice for people, poets by composing new poems for the dirges in the intervals of Ta’azyeh, industrial workshops by making different tools and instruments used in Ta’azyeh, tailoring and handicraft workshops by making different costumes and masks and accessories for Ta’azyeh, cultural institutes by making films of Ta’azyeh and making them readily accessible to the public, documentarists by making documentaries about Ta’azyeh and preparing them to be shown on TV, each help develop a special skill through Ta’azyeh.

Iran 2010

Suối Mỡ Temple Festival is held on March 30 and April 1 of the lunar calendar every year at Suối Mỡ Temple, to honor the Three Holy Mothers, especially Princess Quế Mỵ Nương, daughter of the 16th Hùng King. He was instrumental in opening the Stream, helping people clear the land, and creating water for people to cultivate. Right from the early morning of the 1st, 25 processions of villages in Nghĩa Phương commune gathered at Đảo Nổi to attend the opening of the festival. After that, the procession from the villages to the temples (Thượng, Trung, Hạ) in the Suối Mỡ relic complex. First, there is a ceremony at Dùm village communal house and the procession of the tutelary god's ordination and tablet to Suối temple. The procession passes through Cây Xanh temple and then to Hạ temple. At the same time, Quỷnh village also took the procession from Quỷnh communal house west of Suối Mỡ, through Hàn Lâm village to Trung temple to hold the ceremony. When the procession arrives at Hạ Temple, the offerings are made. Palanquin processions were previously led by virgins, or young ladies. The male and female Mandarin worship teams, as well as the villagers, lead the procession of palanquins with hammocks, floats, parasols, regalia, and other elaborately decorated outfits. The highlight of the Suối Mỡ temple festival is the ritual of singing literature and worshiping the saints of the villages. The festival has many folk games such as pounding day cake, archery competition, traditional martial arts performances, blindfolded pot smashing, chess, checkers, etc.

The festival is held on the 19th and 20th of the first lunar month, traditionally called the Ha Linh festival - or commonly known as the Ba But Pagoda Thanksgiving Festival, to commemorate Uy Minh Vuong Ly Nhat Quang - the governor of Nghe An, who had many contributions to building Nghe An homeland and expanding and protecting the borders of Dai Viet under the Ly dynasty. The Qua Son Temple Festival is organized by 7 villages (Thanh Xuan, Trac Thanh, Tap Phuc, Nhan Boi, Phuc Hau, Nhan Trung and Phuc Yen), belonging to 3 communes of Ngoc Son, Lam Son, Boi Son, who assign each other and are responsible for each part of the work to carry out the festival. The main locations are the opening ritual at Qua Son Temple (Tap Phuc village), the place to offer incense and thank Ba But at Ba But Pagoda (Trac Thanh village) and the Lam River section from Qua Son Temple upstream to Ba But Pagoda. The rituals include: "Khai quang, tẩy uế" ceremony, "Yết cáo" ceremony, "Chinh te" ceremony (is the ritual to worship Than Uy Minh Vuong Ly Nhat Quang, also known as "Xuất Thần" ritual, the statue of Ly Nhat Quang is carried out on a palanquin to be carried to Ba But pagoda for a thanksgiving ritual). The unique feature of the Qua Son temple festival is the procession in the early morning of the 20th with two army and navy wings. The army wing consists of the "main army" team and the "civilian army" team, carrying the palanquin from the temple to Ba But pagoda. The navy army holds a navy review ceremony. The two processions gather at Ba But pagoda, the Saint's palanquin is placed in the middle to offer incense, perform the ancient ritual /thanksgiving ritual. After the rituals, the two army and navy wings hold a review ceremony to carry him back to Qua Son temple in the order of the procession. At Qua Son temple, the people hold a ritual to enthrone him. In addition to the rituals, the Qua Son Temple Festival also has folk games such as: swinging, cockfighting, chess, traditional wrestling, pot smashing, tug of war..., sports activities that attract the participation of the people. The Qua Son Temple Festival aims to recreate the heroic history of the nation, express gratitude to ancestors, contribute to connecting the community and the martial spirit of the people of Nghe An. With its typical value, the Qua Son Temple Festival was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2018.

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea As a folk play performed in Andong around the full moon period of January 15 on the lunar calendar, it is said to have stemmed from the battles between Gyeon Hwon of Later Baekje and King Taejo (Wang Geon) of Goryeo. Villagers select good trees to be used for the play in nearby mountains toward the end of the preceding year, hold a sacrificial rite for mountain deities, fell them, and carry them to the village. Since the thickness and solidity of the trees are decisive factors of the battle, they work on the trees under tight security to prevent opponents from getting information on the trees. The village is divided into two sides according to their place of birth. On the event day, farmers’ music is played to arouse people’s interest. People stand on their side of the battle and try to discourage the other side by raising the wooden structure they made. The leaders of the two sides stand at the top of the raised structure set up against that of the opponent team. They balance their body by holding the string tied to the top of the structure and give commands to their team. The team that makes the opponent’s wooden structure fall to the ground wins the battle. The beauty of the play lies in the spirit of fair play. If any participant in the play is in danger, both sides immediately back off and get him out of danger before engaging in the battle again. As a mock battle among males, Andong Chajeon Nori displays the martial spirit kept by the people in Andong. It is also a rite of praying for a good year for crops. The winning side will reportedly enjoy better harvest in the year.

Yike Theater is a typical folk performance art form of the Khmer people. Yike Theater was born in the Ba Sắc region of Sóc Trăng province with the great contributions of his ancestor Lý Cuôn. The theme is exploited from the treasure of Khmer folk literature. The stage and scenery are of the nature of a "gourd stage", and a landscape backdrop (available, can be pulled up and down). Basic dances such as military training, congratulations, good harvest, water invitation... Dance movements are divided into two character lines: the front line has poise and decisive movements (men) and graceful and soft movements (women); The villain line has exaggerated, fierce movements. The choreography has separate rules for different types of characters: people (13), python (02), and animals (01); individual choreography (04) and combat choreography (06). Music: the main musical instruments are strings and percussion, the most important being "trô u" (dip lute); Pinpet (pentatonic) orchestra. Music has its own characteristics, is methodical, has clear patterns and rules, and is used for each subject and character's personality. Songs and melodies: there are a total of 163 songs (tunes, including Lôm songs and Nô kô rek songs), of which 34 are traditional and official songs; The remaining songs are influenced by other art forms. The songs are divided into male and female voices, with specific characters such as hunters, fairies, male, female, and clown roles. The characteristic of Yike singing is that at the end of all the songs, there is a collective chant inside the stage. The art of makeup according to specific regulations shows the character's personality: bold, clear makeup (human - white, pink red; fox - red, black; fairy - blue). This is a combination of art forms from singing, dancing, music, martial arts, costumes, makeup, painting, and cuisine with unique characteristics of the community. Before performing, they worship the ancestors. The game exploits fairy tales and Khmer folk mythology.

Trần Temple Festival is a "two-term spring-autumn" festival to commemorate ancestors, 14 Trần Dynasty kings and Hưng Đạo King - Trần Quốc Tuấn. In spring, the Trần Temple seal opening ceremony takes place solemnly on the night of January 14 and 15 with 3 rituals: thurify, the procession of seal palanquin and seal opening at the Trần Dynasty's Tiên Temple (Thiên Trường palace). In the past, in the years of the Rat, Horse, Cat, and Rooster, on the full moon day of the first month, Thượng Temple held a Seal Opening ceremony with the participation of seven villages: Vọc, Lốc, Hậu Bồi, Bảo Lộc, Kênh, Bái, Tức Mặc. In front of the temple yard flutters a large flag, in the middle embroidered with the words "East" and "A" combined. The procession from surrounding communal houses and temples to offer incense and sacrifices at Thượng temple. During the opening ceremony, the door of Thiên Trường temple is closed to ensure solemnity. From 11:55 p.m. onwards, the temple will open for people to continue the New Year's ceremony. After the main ceremony, the temple will be opened to people and visitors at the first ceremony of the year. From 5 a.m. on January 15, the organizing committee will hold a seal-disclosing ceremony for people and tourists from all over. In the fall, the Trần Temple festival is held from Full Moon to August 20 with the mindset of "August is the father's death anniversary, March is the mother's death anniversary". The festival is solemnly celebrated, with processions from surrounding communal houses and temples to offer incense and sacrifices at the Thuong temple to worship the 14 Tran kings. The incense offering ceremony had 14 virgin girls carrying 14 flower trays entering the temple with music to offer to 14 kings. The festival has many rich and interesting forms of cultural activities such as cockfighting, five-generation martial arts performance, wrestling, lion dancing, playing card games, praying for overseas Vietnamese, singing adoration, and dancing card games.

The Long Tong Festival (Going to the Fields Festival) of the Tay people in Dinh Hoa district, Thai Nguyen province is held in the early days of spring to pray for favorable weather, good crops, bountiful harvests, and a prosperous life. The festival is held in the largest and most beautiful fields. The Long Tong Festival includes a ceremony and a festival. The festival will feature many traditional rituals that have existed for a long time, such as: the Tay people's harvest praying ceremony, San Chay, Tich Dien ceremony; the Dao people's blessing praying ceremony, with traditional rituals imbued with the beliefs of the ethnic groups in Dinh Hoa district. During the ceremony, each family prepares a tray of offerings including chicken, pork, boiled eggs, Chung cake, sticky rice, various types of sticky rice cakes, Khao cakes, Lam tea... to offer to the gods. On each tray of offerings, there is a colorful flower-shaped cake and two pairs of cones made of fabric with many colorful tassels and seeds of all kinds. The offering trays of the village are carefully selected, must be larger, more numerous, more beautifully decorated than the offering trays of the families and must include a pig's head. The offering trays are arranged in a straight line, the master of ceremonies (usually a Taoist or Mo master), is called "Pú mo". "Pú mo" stands in front of the offering trays of the village to thank heaven and earth, the gods for blessing the villagers, at the same time the villagers light incense, pour wine. After the prayer of thanks, "Pú mo" continues to pray for rain, an assistant carries a basin of water standing next to it, many others hold palm leaves walking from the worship place to the end of the field. After praying, "Pú mo" sprinkles water around, implying that heaven is sending rain, the villagers gather around, everyone wants to catch those drops of water symbolizing luck. After sprinkling water, "Pú mo" takes seeds from the offering trays and sprinkles them around, the villagers mix those seeds with the seeds they choose to plant. Next, the men will plow the first furrows, while the women will show off their planting skills. After the ceremonies, the villagers will celebrate together, wishing each other good health, good luck, full barns of rice, full yards of pigs and chickens, etc. During the festival, there will be a Tich Dien ceremony, a planting competition, dry puppetry, folk games: throwing cones, lion dances, martial arts, tug of war, stilt walking, tug of war, stick pushing, singing and responding between men and women, etc. The Long Tong Festival (going to the fields) is one of the festivals held annually by the Tay ethnic group in Thai Nguyen, associated with agricultural beliefs, to express respect and gratitude to the gods of the forest, the gods of the mountains, the gods of the sky and the gods of the earth, and the wishes for a prosperous life imbued with the identity of the indigenous Tay people. Through this, the festival activities also contribute to promoting valuable landscapes and historical relics to boost local tourism development. This is a long-standing traditional festival of the Tay people in the Viet Bac region, recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2017.

Tang quây or Khen dancing is a unique form of performance reserved for Mông men in Bac Kan. The trumpet functions both as a musical instrument and as a dance prop. They dance Khen in fun events, festivals and markets. The Khen tree consists of many small bamboo pipes that can be put together to blow out and inhale air. It is also a dance prop with a structure suitable for crouching and turning, jumping, etc. The sound of the Khen can be heard at the same time. emitting polyphonic sounds, many parts, resonating far and wide; The rhythm is 4/4 or 2/4, suitable for the movements of Khen dancers. It is estimated that there are 33 Khen dance movements and combinations such as jumping, gliding, turning, shifting weight, jumping sideways, kicking, crawling, gliding, wavering, cock fighting, kicking. Flipping, etc. In which the main motifs are spinning in place and spinning mobile on a large rotation that gradually narrows in a spiral shape. To become a good Khen player, a Mông man must practice from the age of 12 to 13 to have a strong and flexible body, but most importantly, how to take deep, long breaths. The most difficult move is to hug Khen while rolling around, dancing the "cock fight" and "horse fight" dance while Khen's sound does not stop. Most Khen dancers perform on large flat surfaces to show off their techniques. It can be affirmed that Khen dance clearly demonstrates the martial spirit, strong personality, courage, agility, dexterity, and talent of Mông men. Khen dance during the festival has a fun tone. The Mông people in Bac Kan also dance Khen at funerals and death anniversaries with the main movement of blowing the Khen while bending around the coffin, bowing, then kneeling and blowing the Khen in front of the prayer tray, expressing grief. the grief of those who lived with the deceased. The Mông people believe that without the Khen sound, the souls of the dead will not be able to return to their ancestors.

Tản Viên Sơn Thánh, also known as Son Tinh, is a saint associated with the legend of fighting against nature and foreign invaders to preserve the country. He is one of the "four immortals" of Vietnamese gods. The Worship of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh covers a large cultural space in the Northern Delta region, of which the most concentrated is the Xu Doai region (the core area is Ba Vi district). The Worship of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh is practiced by the people of Ba Vi district - Hanoi at over 100 relics in the area, typically the relic cluster of Thuong temple, Trung temple, Ha temple (in the area of Ba Vi and Minh Quang communes), Tay Dang communal house (in Tay Dang town), Thuy Phieu communal house (Thuy An commune), Khe Thuong communal house (Son Da commune).... Every year, on the full moon day of the first lunar month, local people organize a festival with rituals and orations recalling the merits of the saint. During the ceremony, the head of the incense (the representative of the people in the area) will read the eulogy recalling the merits of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh in a solemn atmosphere, in which special emphasis is placed on the royal decree with the honorary titles. The festival includes many performances that reflect the traditions of martial arts and the diligence and creativity of the people in their labor, such as lion dance, dragon dance, swing playing, wrestling, cockfighting, boating, duck catching, climbing bridges... These activities all recall the merits of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh in teaching people how to farm and train the army... On the 6th day of the 11th lunar month, Ba Vi district organizes an incense offering ceremony to commemorate the death of Saint Tản Viên. In addition to the usual offerings such as chicken, pig, sticky rice, wine, incense and flowers, each place worshiping Tan Vien Son Thanh in big parties has its own offerings. Among them, the indispensable offering is a pig or chicken with jet-black fur. If the pigs and chickens offered to the Saint have white feathers, the whole village will not have good business that year... The Worship of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh is imbued with humanity, looking back to the origin, expressing the desire to conquer nature and towards a better life of people. The Worship of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh has a particularly important meaning in the spiritual life of the people of Ba Vi district. He is not only the patron saint of the village but is also revered by the people as the First God of Fortune, the Supreme God, and the national hero, the hero of opening the land and controlling the water, the hero who enlightened the culture of our nation since the founding of the country. With its great cultural heritage value, on January 30, 2018, the Worship of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh in Ba Vì was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national intangible cultural heritage in Decision No. 266/QD-BVHTTDL.

“Bassac Theatre” Originally known as “Treung Khlok” Theatre, it originated in Kampuchea Krom Bassac District, Preah Trapeang Province (now under Vietnamese rule). Bassac troupe originally formed by the chief of Khsach Kandal pagoda (Kampuchea Krom) names of Sour and Lok Ta Cha Krun, as well as his students, Kru Kmoa, Kru Korn, and Kru Khla. During the 1930s, Lok Ta Cha Krun brought the Trung Khlok theatre to perform in Phnom Penh and other provinces along the Bassac River. The theatre also quickly gained popularity in Phnom Penh. At first, it was called "Theatre from Bassac District", then later abbreviated as "Bassac Theatre" and is still named today. Bassac theatre is performed in both speaking and singing and accompanied by the Bassac music. The theater genre is influenced by Chinese and Vietnamese operas. The female characters (princesses or goddesses) dress similarly to the characters in classical dance. The male characters (kings, gods, or giants) dress similarly to the male characters in Chinese or Vietnamese operas. But today, the male characters’ costume is also similar to the costumes of the actors in the classical dance, except that the giant characters still wear the same costume as before. The stage is often decorated with paintings of temples or artificial mountains. Bassac theatre often features artistic legends. Performances include sword fighting, stick fighting, or other martial arts or battle scenes. The songs are both traditional and modern. During the 1960s, the Bassac Theatre gained immense popularity. There were two famous characters that almost all Khmer people at that time knew until he was named the King and the Queen of Bassac, Lok Ta Saing Sarun and Lok Year Chek Mach. Nowadays, Bassac is included in the curriculum of the Secondary School of Fine Arts. Famous Bassac theatre teachers who have passed away, including Lok Ta Saing Sarun, Lok Year Chek Mach, Mrs. Un Wang, Mr. Sous Kanan, Ouk Si Phally, John (Battambang), Tapov, Tork Khmao, Em Samphon and Kru nhoun (Outstanding Tror musician).