Every year, the Phu La people in Nan Sin commune often organize a Forest Worship Ritual (lau pin phu) on the last day of the first lunar month. The Phu La people believe that the forest god always plays a very important role in their lives, providing shelter for human life. The ritual is presided over by the village elder. The location is usually close to the forest, with a large area. They build an altar made of bamboo, thatched roof with no truncated tops, with 4 legs about 1m high, about 1m long, on a bamboo altar surface 1m wide, 2m long. Families contribute offerings and money to the common organization. Each family must contribute a chicken, a bowl of rice, a bottle of wine, according to the regulations of the village community. In the Phu La Forest Worship Ritual, the village elder often doubles as a shaman, and will prepare the offerings according to traditional customs. The shaman must prepare the tools for the offering 2 days before the forest worshiping ritual, go into the forest to get a tree (cha mu sai) to carve into a wooden sword, about 70cm long, then smear black charcoal on the sword, and gather 10-15 children, on the day of the ritual, smear black charcoal on the children's faces to perform magic. In addition, he must make 2 pieces of bamboo to use as objects to ask for yin and yang during the ritual. The shaman holds the sword, points to the forbidden forest, goes to the altar and prays to invite the forest god to return to receive the offering and bless the villagers. After praying, the shaman pours wine into cups on the altar to invite the forest god and the land god to come back to enjoy the food and witness the villagers' sincerity. At noon of the forest worshiping ritual, the whole village finishes eating and drinking in the forest, then they go home, and return 3 days later to clean up. They avoid pregnant women and women who are not "clean" from participating in the ritual. After the ritual, each family will make a “phung manh” flag and hang it at the door to pray for good luck for the whole year. The “phung manh” flag is hung to pray for good luck for the family, for people and animals to be healthy. The family will change the “phung manh” flag every 3 years on the village forest worshiping day. This is a folk belief ritual with the meaning of protecting the ecological environment and praying for blessings with profound humanistic values of the Phu La ethnic group in Nan Sin commune. The forest worshiping festival aims to pray for the forest god to protect the village in peace, for people to be healthy, united, and have a good harvest. Through the Forest Worship Ritual, the Phu La community in Nan Sin commune is more united, educating the younger generation to protect and preserve the forest and the traditional culture of the Phu La ethnic group. With its good and important values, the Forest Worship Festival of Phu La people, Nan Sin commune (Xin Man district) was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2018.

The Kate Festival of the Cham people is the most important festival of the Cham community in Ninh Thuan, taking place in the 7th month of the Cham calendar every year (around October of the Gregorian calendar). This festival is to commemorate gods such as Po Klaung Garai, Po Rame... and ancestors. The Kate Festival of the Cham people in Ninh Thuan province usually takes place in a large space at the temples and towers: Pô Klong Garai Tower (Do Vinh ward, Phan Rang - Thap Cham city), Pô Rômê Tower (Hau Sanh village, Phuoc Huu commune, Ninh Phuoc district) and Po Inư Nưgar Temple (Huu Duc village, Phuoc Huu commune, Ninh Phuoc district), in order from the temple, tower to the villages and finally to the family, creating a rich and diverse Cham festival flow. The Kate Festival consists of two parts: the ceremony and the festival. The ceremony includes rituals such as: The ritual of receiving clothes from the youngest Raglai brother down from the mountain at 7am; Opening the tower door to invite the gods to attend and enjoy the offerings; The ceremony of bathing the statue of the god; The ceremony of dressing the statue of the god Anguei Khan Aw Kapo; The most important Adaoh Tâm ceremony, starting from 9am - 11am; Kate festival at the temple, tower: The beginning of the Kate festival in Ninh Thuan is the worship ceremony at the temple tower directed by the high priest. The celebrant will play the Kanhi and sing a hymn, offering the gods. After that, the high priest will preside over the statue bathing ceremony performed by some Brahmin priests. The offerings in the Kate festival in Ninh Thuan at the temple tower include: 3 chickens, 1 big goat, 3 loaves of rice cakes, 1 tray of rice with sesame salt, 5 trays of rice with goat meat and soup with fresh fruit. In addition, the offerings also include eggs, wine, sticky rice, betel and areca nuts... After completing the above rituals, people will return to the village and continue other rituals. When the sacred dance in the tower has just ended, the festival outside the tower begins. The Kate festival is similar to the Lunar New Year of the Kinh people. The festival is vibrant with dances, Cham folk songs, Gi Nang drums, Saranai trumpets, brocade weaving performances, pottery making, water carrying competitions, drum beating... Kate festival in villages and families: The worship rituals and the festival part of the Kate festival in Ninh Thuan are held in parallel. Before the festival, villagers will clean the temple together, decorate the village house, and prepare food, drinks, and the yard. According to beliefs, each village will worship a god, but all are village gods. The celebrant - a prestigious person, trusted by the villagers, will represent the people to offer offerings to the gods to pray for good things, luck, and peace. After the Kate Festival in the village, the Cham people will return to their homes to perform the ceremony. The celebrant is the oldest person in the clan. This is the person who will represent the whole family to offer offerings to the ancestors. At this time, all family members are present, dressed neatly and sincerely pray for the ancestors to wish for peace. The Kate Festival expresses the desire for fertility, praying for growth, good crops towards a peaceful and prosperous life. With its great historical and cultural value, the Kate Festival of the Cham people in Ninh Thuan province was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2017.

Sacred texts representing the spirit, philosophy and teachings of the Buddha are chanted by the monks (Lamas) in the monasteries and villages of the Ladakh region. Buddhism in Ladakh has two sects: Mahayana - that follows the Sutra (treatise) tradition, based on the teachings of Budhha delivered in the form of public discourse; and Vajrayana - that follows a highly esoteric tradition based on the principles espoused by the Tantra practices. There are four major sects of Buddhism in Ladakh namely Nyngma, Kagyud, Shakya and Geluk. Each of these sects has several forms of chanting practised on diverse occasions as annual festivals; agrarian, life cycle healing rituals; for general well being, and to attain Buddhahood. Vajrayana Buddhism stresses the visualisation and recitation of Mantra through the practice of chanting. The chanting of Mantras is an integral part of Buddhist life in Ladakh. Buddhist Chanting is primarily practised in a group, by the monks. It is practised everyday in the monastic assembly hall as a prayer to the deities for world peace, and for personal growth of the practitioner. The villagers also patronise this tradition; they invite the monks to their homes for chanting on various occasions, such as family functions and important days in the agrarian calendar. In fact, on any given day, sounds of chanting can be heard in the villages all over Ladakh. It is a part of Ladakh’s daily life and cultural heritage. Monasteries work as the repository of knowledge and tradition, and as a channel for continuation and preservation of chanting. Buddhist chanting is highly evolved and stylised. The young monks are trained under strict and rigorous supervision of senior monks. Chanting texts are recited frequently till they are committed to memory. Thus chanting as a tradition is passed on from generation to generation as an oral practice and knowledge. The senior monks train young acolytes in the correct use of hand gestures ('mudra') that is an integral part of most chanting traditions. Bells, hand drums, flutes and the trumpets are usually used as accompaniments during chanting. They lend musicality and rhythm to the chanting. The four sects of Vajrayana Buddhism have their own different styles of chanting. Chanting styles can vary from one monastery to another, even if they belong to the same sect. In some sects, chanting is also accompanied with dance ('cham'), which is practised in the monastic courtyard. The Cham chantings of Hemis and Phyang, though they belong to the same sect of Kargyudpa, have entirely different chanting styles. The seven forms of chanting included in the dossier represent the diversity of the tradition practised in the Ladakh region. 1. Shargangrima - It is one of the most popular chanting of Gelukpa Sect. This is a eulogy recited by the Lamas as well as by the lay people in honour of Je Tzongkhapa who founded the Gelukpa sect in the 14th and 15th century. In Sargangrima, the chanters address Je Tzongkhapa as the second Budhha and celebrate him as the Son of the eastern province. 2. Nashthan Phyagzod -This chant uses musical instruments and 'mudras' (hand gestures) during chanting. It is a prayer for the 16 disciples or Arhats of the Budhha. Nashthan Phyagzod is chanted by the Lamas for all sects. The Arhats are the direct successors of the Buddha, the bearers of His teachings. The chant is a prayer to the Arhats to stay eternally on the earth for the sake of Dharma. At the end of each stanza, the chanters play drums, blow on a long flute and beat cymbals, providing a musical rhythm to the chanting. The monks symbolically offer music, dance, incense, flowers, lamps and food through 'mudras.' 3. Kunrig – This chant stresses on the internal visualisations by monks through repetitive chanting and 'mudras.' 4. Rigmachutuk – This chanting is performed by monks who dance in the courtyard of the monastery, wearing copper masks, silk robes and special shoes. It is based on two tantric texts. Rigmachutuk are the 16 fairy maidens or 'dakinis' who escort the titular Guru Padmasambhava in his Dharma missions. It is also performed during the funeral procession of senior monks. 5. Guru Mantra - This Mantra is recited by all followers of Mahayana tradition in Ladakh. This text is seen engraved on stones and metals and inscribed in flags and clothes all over this region. It is believed that this Mantra purifies the human beings of their sins. 6. Chod - It is a secret practice that is usually performed in the cemeteries. Chod requires great concentration and high meditative qualities. In this, the performer visualises that his consciousness has separated from his body, and has transformed into a deity. 7. Guhyasamaj Tantra – This chanting includes 'mudras' through which the monks emulate different missions of the Buddha. These chanting rites are performed all over Ladakh in various monasteries and villages. The nomination contains audio-visual documentation of performances conducted in strict adherence to scriptural guidelines, and under the guidance by the chief Lamas in the following monasteries. Thiksay Monastery Spituk Monastery Matho Monastery Hemis Monastery Phyang Monastery

India 2012

In the life cycle rituals of the Raglai people, the Grave-abandoning Ritual is considered the most important ritual. The Grave-abandoning Ritual is performed from the third to the fifth year. It is usually held around March and April of the solar calendar, for 3-5 days, with the meaning of farewell to the dead forever according to the Raglai people's concept. The scale of the festival is large, attracting the whole village and many other villages to participate. Depending on the economic conditions and local customs, they make it big or small. For large Grave-abandoning Ritual, there is usually a Kagor - a symbol of wealth and prosperity that the living make to give to the dead. An offering in the shape of a boat, beautifully and elaborately carved. The offerings and items used in the Grave-abandoning Ritual are usually prepared by the deceased's family months in advance, including 3 trays of offerings: Tray 1: Chicken, rice, wine, 1 pair of chopsticks; Tray 2: Pig head, boiled pig liver, boiled chicken, rice, wine, bananas...; Tray 3: Chicken, rice, wine, meat... According to custom, in the Grave-abandoning Ritual, there must be 3 shamans, symbolizing the three parts of the body: head, body, feet. The main shaman always stands in the middle of two other people, called Yanuh jalat (the person who shows the way, shows food, drinks... to the ghost). The "magic stick" (gai toah) is made from the day someone dies, and only now does Yanuh jalat use it. In addition to the ritual, the Grave-abandoning Ritual includes beating gongs, stabbing buffaloes, dancing, singing, and drinking rice wine to celebrate the soul of the deceased. This ceremony involves the contributions of everyone in the Raglai clan and community. The Raglai Grave-abandoning Ritual expresses the feelings and responsibilities of the living towards the dead, at the same time expressing gratitude to grandparents, filial piety to parents, and the close-knit relationship between the village and the neighborhood. With its typical value, the Grave-abandoning Ritual of the Raglai people in Phuoc Chien commune, Thuan Bac district, Ninh Thuan province was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2018 by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The Traditional Coaxing ritual expresses the peculiar relationship between a man and animal. The ritual comes under the domain of “social practices, rituals and festive events” and in cases where there is participation in the ritual by a singer and musician, or by a few musicians, it might also come under the domain of “performing art”. While elsewhere spring is a pleasant season for peasants, it isn’t convenient for Mongolian herdsmen. The mother animals give birth to their young in a harsh and dusty spring, so there is a big risk of losing a mother or a baby animal. Mongols have a variety of rituals relating to husbandry in traditional Mongolian society. One of them is a chanting ritual for a new-born baby animal and its mother. To chant is to stimulate, through the use of special words and melody, the adopting of a baby animal to a mother. There are different gestures, melodies and chanting techniques for the five types of livestock in Mongolia. Coaxing (khuuslukh) a camel is a ritual for a mother who rejects her baby; or for adopting an orphan baby to another female who has lost her baby, because only a suckling mother will have milk in harsh spring time. For the nomadic Mongols the camel milk has been not only the source of food and drinks in the severe Gobi Desert conditions, but also the basic means of preventing illness or for healing diseases. Therefore, the coaxing rituals originated from the everyday occurrence of the herdsmen and became one of the important elements of Mongolian folk knowledge and ritual. The performance of the ritual continues for a few hours at early morning or at twilight and requires a high skill of handling camels and a singing talent or skill for playing on a musical instrument such as the horse head fiddle or flute. Most herdswomen engage in techniques and methods of coaxing, but these techniques and methods aren’t enough sometimes, for performing the ritual successfully. If there isn’t a singer or musician in the family, the owner of the camels will invite a coaxer or a few masters in coaxing and players of a musical instrument, from another place. In this case, the coaxing ritual will compose of a small performance by several actors: a singer along with a horse head fiddle, flute or mouth-orlgan players. A mother is tied close to the calf, nearby to a yurt. A singer will begin gently their monotone song ""khuus"", ""khuus"" with a horse head fiddle or without any musical instrument. A mother will bite, savage or spit and show her ignorance to a calf at the beginning of the ritual. The coaxer can change their melody, depending on the mother’s behavioural reaction. Most musicians will perform the ritual traditional Mongolian -sad stories about camels- songs such as “Unchin tsagaan botgo”, “Goviin undur” etc. The musician performs his play with different sounds of walking, running and bellowing of a camel and absorbs words into poems, songs and epochs. When a mother camel is being coaxed into accepting a rejected or an orphan calf, it is said to break into tears at the gentle sound of ""khuus"" and the enchanting melody of the horse head fiddle sung and played by someone skilled in the art of casting spells on animals. In some cases, to perform the ritual more effectively herdsmen use additional techniques such as skinning a dead calf and covering the orphan camel calf with the hide, tying a mother together with a baby quite a far distance from the ger camp for the whole night, or soaking the calf in salt, saltpetre or in the mother’s milk. Also it was common to place the ankle bone of a wild sheep (there is a myth that wild ewes never reject their babies) around the neck of a mother or a calf. But nowadays it is very hard to find these anklebones, as wild sheep are enlisted to the endangered-species list. There is also an exotic remedy in the coaxing ritual where the mother is led to a ger at twilight and shown the fire inside. (A camel can’t enter a ger, because of its size.) All participants in the ritual wear good clothes, remain attentive and focused, using their own psychic vision and imagination in the coaxing process, because the participants express their gratitude to gods of the camels, mountains and waters within the ritual. After finishing the ritual a coaxer or small group of masters will be honoured guests of the family. A person, who had performed coaxing rituals prosperously, will be invited again and again by the families in need of the ritual. When, where, how many times they have been invited - is the main criteria for evaluating the talent of a cultural bearer of this ritual. The evaluation is a prerequisite to their popularity in a society. The coaxing ritual has been transmitted from generations to generations and been enriched by the exchange of camel herding knowledge between the herders of Umnugovi, Bayankhongor, Dundgovi provinces, which are the main territories of Mongolia’s Bactrian camel population. “We should not forget this ritual while we are herding camels, because in both the animal and the human - it transcends genre to become a deeply affecting allegory about the importance of patience and acceptance in so many relationships” that is the conception of elders, the cultural bearers’ communities and camel herders. The knowledge and skills relating to the ritual’s transmission occurs from parents and elders to youth, in home tutoring: Elders with long experience of herding, herdswomen with singing talent and the talented musicians, who can influence the camel’s behaviour, are the main actors of the coaxing ritual. The ritual acts as a symbolic medium for creating and maintaining the social ties of individual nomadic families and dependencies to the community, because it is one part of the traditional intangible cultural heritage of the relationship between man and livestock.

Mongolia 2015

The Cầu Ngư Whale Worship Festival is held annually for 3 days, at the end of the second lunar month (from February 22 to 24), to pray for calm seas and favorable fishing season for the year. According to the elders, the Cầu Ngư Whale Worship Festival in the ancient Diem Pho and present Ngu Loc regions has appeared since the Le Dynasty, and has been preserved and promoted for many centuries. To prepare for the festival, people organized the making of a Long Chau boat, because this is the sacred object used for the main worship during the festival. Long Chau is a dragon boat, made of bamboo, bamboo, colored paper, foam and dyes, used as a dragon-shaped worship boat, to simulate the functions and powers of the gods of the river and sea regions and to send offerings along with the people's prayers, hoping to bless them in their life at sea. The festival consists of 2 parts: The ceremony part with rituals solemnly organized by fishermen such as: Long Chau boat procession, installation ceremony, peace-praying ceremony, food procession, palanquin procession... Here, offerings are offered to the gods with the purpose of thanking the gods for giving favorable weather, calm seas, full holds of fish and shrimp, good crops, a prosperous and happy life. When all preparations were completed, on the morning of February 21st of the lunar calendar, the temples and pagodas in the commune were opened one by one, the incense offering and worshiping teams began. By the next morning (February 22nd), the worshiping teams, the eight-tone troupe, the palanquin-carrying troupe, the village associations, the council of elders, the dignitaries in the village, and the heads of the clans were present at Thanh Ca temple to carry out the palanquin procession. The procession was organized to start very early from Thanh Ca temple to " Phúc land" (now the cultural center of the commune). After the ceremony to pray for coolness and peace here, the clans, people and tourists from all over the world came to worship and pay homage, until the afternoon of February 24, when it ended with the ceremony to send Long Chau back to the sea. The Cầu Ngư Whale Worship Festival often attracts a large number of people and tourists from all over the world to participate, with 81 clans and 450 fishing boats from Ngu Loc commune coming to participate in the festival, with a procession about 2 km long and hundreds of incense altars of the people worshiping Long Chau along the way to the altar. The Festival is organized in a lively, joyful and healthy manner, with exciting activities imbued with the traditional culture of the coastal area such as: water music performances, lion dances, festival drum performances, Chau Van performances, love songs, chess competitions, squid fishing competitions, net weaving competitions, duet singing competitions, human chess competitions... The Cầu Ngư Whale Worship Festival is an opportunity for people to express their aspirations for the fishing profession, go out to sea to pray for protection, and aim for a prosperous and happy life. The Cầu Ngư Whale Worship Festival is a large festival, especially valuable in the spiritual life of the residents of Thanh Hoa coastal area. At the end of 2017, the Cầu Ngư Whale Worship Festival of Ngu Loc commune was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Ensuring solidarity and collective identity, national and religious holidays, celebrations, feasts, commemorations are of great significance as regards to social values. The providers, the distribution and the consumption of the food are strictly determined on these special days. Traditional ceremonial keşkek is one of the social practices which sustain its significance from the past to our present day. Keşkek tradition is practiced at circumcisions, wedding ceremonies, religious holidays such as, Ramadans, sacrifice Aid, Muharram Month (first month of the Islamic calendar), charities, pilgrimage feast, prayers for the rain, Mevlid (Islamic poetry reading), Hıdrellez (a kind of seasonal celebration) and similar practices. Preparation and consumption process of keşkek bears a collective character. Particularly in village communities, preparation of ingredients and cooking process of keşkek are actualized through collective work. The villagers contribute to keşkek ceremony by providing the ingredients and participate in cooking process. Wheat and meat are the basic ingredients of keşkek. The main ingredients are provided by the household on special days for the family and the dwellers of the village provide the work force if needed. The wheat for keşkek, of an amount proportional with the number of participants, is washed with prayers a day before the wedding ceremony. Accompanied by davul-zurna (traditional Turkish musical instruments) the wheat is carried carefully to a large stone mortar. The wheat is hulled on the large stone mortars by two or four persons using gavels in a fixed rhythm. The rhythmic sound is a sign for the start of wedding ceremony. The hulled wheat is one of the main ingredients of keşkek to be prepared on the wedding morning. Meat is the other main ingredient for keşkek. Cooking keşkek requires specialized knowledge therefore it is carried out by experienced persons called ""keşkekçi"" (keşkek maker). Keşkekçis are trained in a master-apprentice tradition. Cooks and his assistants in charge of keşkek cooking start the preparations at early hours in the morning of the day before the ceremony. As weddings - the primary occasions for ceremonial keşkek tradition – are usually held during summer or early autumn, keşkek is usually cooked outdoors. Requiring a long-lasting source of heat, keşkek is cooked in large copper cauldrons, the bottom of which is smeared with ash to protect it before being put on a big open fire. Hulled wheat, chunks of meat on the bone, onions, spices, water and oil are all put together in the cauldron. It is important to maintain the heat at a certain temperature while cooking. Therefore, cook and the assistants take turns to maintain the cooking process as desired until morning. Watching the heat and preparation of the side dishes to be served with keşkek last all night long. This night spent around the keşkek is full of stories, friendly talks and jokes. The cook checks the keşkek cauldron in the morning of the wedding day. Towards noon, the most important phase of the keşkek tradition takes place. The strongest of the village youth, who were previously chosen for ‘keşkek dövme (keşkek beating)’, are called in to ‘beat’the keşkek with a wooden tool which can be named as ağaç kepçe (wooden ladle) tokmak (gavel), çomça or şişe. This is in a way a mashing process. The rhythm while hulling the wheat goes on during the beating process as well. The wooden tools are used in a rhythmic order. The beating process of keşkek attracts great interest among the crowds. To motivate the beating youth, the crowd cheers and sings folk songs. During the beating, one or two persons apart from the beating youth take the bones out with a special kind of tongs. The neighboring towns and villages are invited and keşkek is collectively consumed in the ceremony premises (courtyard of mosque for religious holidays, bride’s or groom’s house on wedding days, a sacred venue for charities and hıdrellez). Prayers are uttered before and after the feast. The pots and pans used during ceremony are collectively washed. A special set of equipments are necessary for the preparation of keşkek. The stone mortar, a collectively owned product of particular craftsmanship, a copper cauldron made especially for such ceremonies and tinned regularly. Hand made ladles and gavels made of wood are among the most important tangible elements of the keşkek tradition. The most significant aspect of the tradition is unifying all people in this ceremony regardless of age, ethnic origin, gender and culture even being invited or not. The hosts of the ceremony check whether all the guests are at the dining table for keşkek. Each person attending to keşkek ceremony is considered as an element of this cultural environment. All individuals within the community through participating in such a ceremonial event have a sense of belonging. This ‘sense of belonging’ reflects itself with the common expression ‘our keşkek is better’, which is a bare evidence of considering keşkek as an important element of cultural heritage. Keşkek ceremony should be practiced with all the components of the tradition or else it loses its traditional aspect for the bearers. In Zonguldak-Ereğli on the west coast of Black sea Region, there is a village named ‘Keşkek’. People from the neighboring villages go to this village, which is a developed locality among the surrounding places, in order to worship on Holy Friday and the visitors are served keşkek there. This clearly explains why the village is called ‘Keşkek’. The villagers see keşkek as a major part of their cultural identity and they are glad to have the name keşkek for their village. Today, this ceremonial tradition, through organizing keşkek festivals and festivities has been preserved by the intimate efforts of city and district municipalities and the hemşeri (locality fellowship) associations, founded by fellow citizens for creating a kind of solidarity. It is observed in these occasions unifying aspects of ceremonial keşkek tradition continues in the cities as well. Preservation of this tradition in the cities is particularly important in terms of how much this tradition is embraced by the communities concerned.

Turkey 2011

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Yugijang refers to a brassware making skill, or to an artisan with such a skill. On the Korean Peninsula, brassware was first made during the Bronze Age. During the Silla Period (57 BC – AD 935), there was a government agency in charge of production of brassware. The skill continued to develop, and thin brassware with beautiful luster came to be made during the Goryeo Period (877 – 1394). Then, there was a lull in development, but brassware enjoyed popularity again by the 18th Century. Anseong, Gyeonggi-do was known for the production of good-quality brassware items, and noble class people placed orders for custom-made brassware goods with producers there. Brass may be any one of a broad range of copper alloys, usually with zinc as the main additive. Brassware displays a yellowish color with subdued luster. Cupronickel ware displays a white color. There are three types of yugi (brassware), depending on the production technique used. To make bangjja yugi, ingots are first made with melted brass and then people strike them with hammers. Examples of articles made with this method are jing (large gong), kkwaenggwari (small gong), food bowls and wash basins. Jumul yugi (forged brassware) is made by using molds. The term Anseong Machum was coined to refer to an object or item that was custom-made for a particular situation, as brassware made in Anseong satisfied specific needs of customers. Semi bangjja yugi refers to brassware made using both bangjja and forging methods. Yugijang is the country’s leading traditional metal artifact-making skill with wide practical applications.

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea When a person died on Jindo Island after a long life, villagers came to console the bereaved family and had professional entertainers perform all night, which was part of the custom of praying for the peace of the spirit of the dead. Dasiraegi is a term referring to this custom. Goguryeo (circa 37 BC – 668 AD) tomb murals and books on the history of Goguryeo and Silla (57 BC – AD 935) show that people sang and danced during the funeral period. Jindo Dasiraegi is composed of five acts. In Act I, a person pretending to be a member of the bereaved family exchanges jokes with mourners. In Act II, a blind man, a female member of the troupe and a monk engage in a round of play. In Act III, mourners carry an empty bier on their shoulders and sing a funeral song. In Act IV, the mourners assume an act of digging a tomb, while singing a song. In the final Act, food and liquor are served to the invited entertainers. Jindo Dasiraegi is the country’s only folk play performed during a funeral period and handed down among professional entertainers belonging to Sincheong (an organization of exorcists and music performers). It is a valuable source of material for those studying funeral customs and folk plays.

Falconry or traditional hunting with birds of prey has been long popularized among people who lived in vast steppe and mountainous areas - the habitat of the birds of prey. Kazakh people tamed different species of falcons, eagles and other birds of prey like Burkyts (golden eagles) and various falco representatives. Every species has been accustomed to certain region and climatic environment - northern regions, mountains of Zhungar and Zaili Alatau, bold mountains or mountains with forested and rocky slopes, plains and steppes with scarce vegetation, desserts and etc. Falconry is the traditional art and practice of training and flying falcons to take quarry in its natural state, and has been practised for more than 4000 years. It is one of the oldest relationships between human and bird. It probably evolved in the steppes of Asia, and spread via cultural and trade links to other countries, first to Europe, North Africa and East Asia and later in the 16th century to the rest of the world. The practice of falconry in early and medieval periods of history is documented in many parts of the world. Falconry as intangible cultural heritage is integrated into communities as a social recreational practice and a means of connecting with nature. It is perceived by the communities as cultural heritage, a social tradition of respect for nature and the environment. Originally a way of obtaining food, falconry has acquired other values over the centuries, and is identified with camaraderie, sharing, and expressions of freedom.

Kazakhstan 2016

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea This rite is held at Munmyo Shrine. It is also called Munmyo Daeje or Seokjeonje. It is presumed that such a rite was first held during the Goguryeo Period following the Chinese practice. This is based on records showing that Taehak (The National Confucian Academy) was established in 372 (the 2nd year of the reign of King Sosurim of Goguryeo). Seokjeon Daeje is held in February and August every year to honor the scholastic virtues of Confucius and prestigious Confucian scholars. The procedure for the ritual is as follows: Yeongsillye (greeting the spirits), Jeonpyerye (offering silk satin as present), Choheollye (first obeisance), Gongak (playing of music), Aheollye (second obeisance), Jongheollye (last obeisance), Eumbongnye (partaking of sacrificial food), Cheolbyeondu (overturing of ritual dishes), Songsillye (bidding farewell to the spirits), Mangnyo (incineration of prayers). The ritual is carried out to the accompaniment of music (Munmyo Jeryeak), which includes both instrumental and vocal music, and dance. Eight instruments for court music are used and are played by two groups of players (Deunga and Heonga). Seokjeon Daeje is held as a national event in a solemn atmosphere. It has characteristics of comprehensive art that includes music and dance.

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Servants of farm households in Miryang got a day off on Baekjung (July 15 on the lunar calendar) after spending months at arduous work to engage in merrymaking. In Miryang, the day was also called Servants’ Day. Their masters provided food and liquor for them. The festival is composed of Nongsinje (Rite to Farming Deity), Jakdu maltagi (a group of people carrying the person selected as the best servant in the village on a wooden structure), Chumpan (a round of merrymaking dances), and a post-event dance. This festival features comical expression of the subdued feeling of servants, who had to live a hard life. The Cripples’ dance and Obokchum dance are handed down only in Miryang. Baegimnaesawi is the main dance movement displayed in this festival. It features lively movements in which the right hand and the right foot and then the left hand and the left foot move in tandem.