The culture of the Central Asian steppes expresses itself vividly in the lifestyle of traditional nomadic practices. Mongolian culture has been in practice in the nomadic life and the traditions surrounding the nomad’s home (ger). And it is present in religious celebrations, national festivals, art and crafts, music and dance, language and literature, which form the backbone of Mongolian intangible cultural heritage of Mongolia. Mongolia is filled with valuable cultural properties and intangible cultural heritage of humanity that have been kept or practiced for thousands of years.\n\nGer, Mongolian Traditional Dwelling\nThe traditional architecture of the Mongols differed strongly from that of the settled peoples of Asia and other continents. Centuries ago, there the ger, also known as a yurt, appeared. It still offers shelter to nomads in particular places in Central Asia. Its development and fundamental principles are determined by the specific features of the way of life of Mongol tribes, which made it necessary to evolve a light and collapsible structure to be used as a dwelling or for public functions.\n\nMongolian Language and Literature\nMongolian is the language of most of the Mongolian population and inner Mongolia. By origin, Mongolian is one of the Altaic family of languages, and the history of the Mongolian language is long and complicated. Significant literary work of early Mongolia includes The Secret History of the Mongols, which was published in 1228).\n\nMongolian Religion and Beliefs\nThe Mongols have practiced several religions, of which Shamanism and Buddhism were the most common. The faith in Mongolia is Buddhism, though the state and religion were separated during the socialist period, but with the transition to the parliamentary republic in the 1990s, there has been a general revival of faiths across the country\n\nMongolian Art and Crafts\nMongolian arts and crafts have been passed down across generations from the Paleolithic times to today, leaving behind deep impressions on all facets of life and conscious, aesthetic, and philosophical thinking. Highly developed Mongolian arts and crafts come from the second millennium BCE. The works included sculptured heads of wild animals with exaggerated features. Other items include knives, daggers, and other items of practical and religious use.\n\nMongolian Music and Dance\nMusic is an integral part of Mongolian culture. Among Mongolia’s unique contributions to the world’s musical culture are the long songs, overtone singing, and morin khuur (the horse-headed fiddle). The music of Mongolia is also rich with varieties related to the various ethnic groups of the country. Among the most popular forms of modern music in Mongolia are Western pop and rock genres and the mass songs written by contemporary authors in the form of folk songs.\n\nHorse Culture of Mongolia\nIt is famously known that horses play a large role in the Mongols’ daily and national lives. Common sayings are, “A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings,” and “Mongols are born on horseback” these are arguably true words. Even today, horse-based culture is still practiced by nomadic Mongolians.\n\nVisit https://www.toursmongolia.com/tours for additional information about Mongolian culture.\n\nPhoto 1 : Prairie meadow grass inner Mongolia traditional clothing © Batzaya Choijiljav\nPhoto 2~7 : © Batzaya Choijiljav

Gold has been long viewed and used as an ornament of preciousness and luxury. Gold is often used to decorate textiles and this process is referred to as gold appliqué. Gold appliqué has a long history in Korea, and there are several records explaining a situation where the government prohibited the use of gold appliqué during the Three Kingdoms era (4-7 CE) due to concerns about the dissipation of the country’s wealth.

While the circle is a quantifiable and concrete geometrical shape, the abstract idea of the circle has many different meanings, interpretations, and symbolic significance in Indian philosophical systems. These ideas have also culminated in varied manifestations of the concept into intangible cultural heritage. Garba is a ritual dance form where the knowledge and belief systems regarding the circle find choreographic expression. It is a social-community dance performed primarily by women in the Gujarat region in India. Performed during the nine-day Hindu festival of Navrātrī, the dance is primarily a celebration of feminine energy and an offering to the feminine divinity. It is also performed during the celebration of Sivaratri and weddings and in certain pregnancy rites.

Modernization and other internal and external influences have caused vernacular houses in the Asia- Pacific region to be replaced. Today, their traditional status has been taken over by houses constructed using newly introduced materials and styles, even in remote villages. Although a house, as a physical object, may be considered to be a tangible heritage, the vernacular house is a product that encompasses intangible components, including the knowledge, skills, and local traditions associated with their construction, use, and maintenance by the particular community. The conservation or protection of vernacular houses is, in other words, tantamount to safeguarding their rich culture rather than merely the preservation of static buildings. \n\nVernacular houses in the tropics of Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands are often built using native plants, and they require occasional rebuilding and regular maintenance. The knowledge and skills required for the construction of a vernacular house building are rarely documented. Instead, the expertise is generally stored in memory and in the activities that are undertaken by an individual, family, or community. This is transferred through practical experience down the generations and is only shared among the members of a community. Our initiative focuses on the reconstruction of vernacular houses in conjunction with local communities, creating opportunities to understand all the requisites of building these traditional structures by thoroughly recording the construction process. \n\nChanges that have occurred in individual values, the lifestyles of ethnic communities, and their surrounding environments have created a situation in which the resources that are necessary for the construction of vernacular houses are less easily available or no longer available. It is common for vernacular houses to be perceived as outdated, old-fashioned, and underdeveloped. A vernacular house can no longer be built and used in the same way that it was when it was the only choice of housing. We need to identify ways in which to sustain traditional house building practices and to utilize this knowledge by examining its potential and its meaning in the modern context. This paper introduces our approach to the reinstatement and reconstruction of vernacular houses and to the revival of related activities in conjunction with local communities in Fiji, Thailand, Vanuatu, and Vietnam and illustrates some of our findings. In the process, the study identifies what it takes to build and sustain vernacular housing.

Bangladesh, the world’s largest delta is crisscrossed by many great rivers and their innumerable tributaries. With a vast expanse of lush crop fields and hilly borderland thickly covered with virgin forests, it has always been known as a land full of nature’s bounties. Ancient chroniclers have described it as “a land of emerald and silver”, “a garden fit for kings”, or “a paradise among countries”. It is no wonder that this country has always attracted settlers, traders, and conquerors who turned the land into a crucible of diverse creeds and cultures. Despite this, little has been done for the safeguarding of the very rich and varied cultural heritages of our ancestors.

People have lived on the small atolls that make up the Central Caroline Islands, now part of the Federated States of Micronesia, for over a thousand years. Micronesia, as it is commonly referred to, is made up of four mountainous states: Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuuk, and Yap, with hundreds of small raised coral atolls. Yap is considered still to retain much of its cultural heri\u0002tage. Life on these remote, outlying islands could for some, especially those from more developed countries, prove lonely and isolating, if not downright difficult. For one thing, the typical size of these atolls is around 2.6 square kilometers (1 square mile) with an average population of 200. Being sur\u0002rounded by the vast Pacific, they appear on maps as nothing more than tiny dots in the deep blue ocean.

Seong-Yong Park talks about the importance of ICH for the sake of sustainable development along with the characteristics of Silk Roads region. He also discusses the various Information and networking programs ICHCAP has implemented in collaboration with Central Asian nations, especially nations along the Silk Roads, showing ICHCAP’s interest in developing projects along the Silk Roads. At the same time, He proposes to develop a broader network targeting the Silk Roads region with upgraded functions of sharing information and building networks. In addition, he argues that for better opportunities for future collaborations, establishing a Silk Roads ICH Network would be a meaningful journey through cooperative and multilateral partnerships among the stakeholders to recreate the glory of the Silk Roads through ICH.

The Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage is a UNESCO-accredited NGO located in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It was established in 2000 with the objectives of protecting and safeguarding various natural and cultural heritage elements, including intangible heritage values, and carrying out various activities for researching, studying, and promoting natural and cultural heritage properties and ICH values.

There is no written history of the Maldives before its conversion to Islam 1153 AD. However, various archaeological and heritage sites bear evidence that the country has been inhabited for at least two thousand years (Mohamed, 2008). The 2019 published Cultural Heritage tentative list got 462 sites/buildings listed which are located all over the nation. The cultural heritage sites/buildings ranging from pre-islamic period (c.500BCE – 1153CE) to late modern period of British control (1835CE-1965) is included in this tentative list.

The wedding is considered the most important event in one’s lifetime, as the joining of a couple marks the beginning of a family and a household. The first notable characteristic of the Korean wedding is that it is a Korean version of Confucian wedding culture, which originated in China. Koreans modified the Chinese ritual to fit their local situation and created a unique Korean ritual. For example, unlike in China, the wedding is held in the bride’s home according to traditions dating back to the Goguryeo dynasty.

The Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage is a UNESCO-accred-ited NGO located in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It was established in 2000 with the objectives of protecting and safeguarding various natural and cultural heritage elements, including intangible heritage values, and carrying out various activities for researching, studying, and promoting natural and cultural heritage properties and ICH values. Since its establishment, the Foundation has been actively involved in state efforts to implement the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the ICH and introduce its new requirements in Mongolia. Both members and the president of the Foundation himself have initiated new ICH amendments into existing heritage law to be more compliant with the 2003 Convention (2006). \nSince 2007, in close cooperation with other ICH NGOs, experts and members of the Foun-dation have elaborated on and implemented action policy, introducing the UNESCO Living Human Treasures program in Mongolia. As a result, in 2015, the primary registration work of ICH elements and their bearers was conducted for the first time in Mongolia, and, overall, 88 ICH elements and more than 3,000 individuals as ICH bearers were identified. One hundred individuals were registered on the “National List of ICH Bearers Possessing the High Level of Skills and Knowledge.”

Korean shamanism has two faces. One firmly preserves tradition maintaining consistency from ancient past and this is the essence of traditional shamanism. This is how shamanism retains continuity with the past and serves as an important part of cultural heritage. Meanwhile, Korean shamanism is also going through drastic changes to adapt to the changing social environments, becoming a part of modern cultural heritage. It continues in different dimensions of transition and being reborn with each new era. In this sense, Korean shamanism is constantly changing. On the other hand, some part of Korean shamanism remain constant amidst the process of change. The most pertinent modes of transmission are found in the dimensions of linguistics, oral tradition, behavior, and materials. Linguistic transmission in Korean shamanism is based on the linguistic foundation of local dialects a unified national language. It is also considered to be a result of historical transmission as it contains the legacies of certain historical eras. Oral tradition refers to the comprehensive sum of transmission through elements in muism and gut culture such as bonpuri, muga, ritualistic language and individual initiation ceremonies. Transmission through actions or behavior include ritual dances and other ritualistic acts. Material transmission refers to material elements derived from the shamanistic ritual of gut as well as the entire tradition.