Co-orgarnized by ICHCAP and Hue Monuments Conservation Centre (HMCC), this year’s Asia-Pacific ICH NGO Conference was held in Hue, Vietnam under the theme of ICH NGOs towards Sustainable Development of Communities.

“A man in Pamir, from birth to death, is accompa- nied by all sorts of family and everyday rites and customs. In many traditions, including the prepa- ration and use of food, traces of deep geographical and climatic isolation are clearly visible.The Pamir highlanders who lived in closeness with their nature had a great culture, rich in traditions, cults, customs which created humane framework of actions in relation to wildlife. Cultural values and practices re- lated to caring for nature at the same time supported the life of the mountain peoples. This culture has become the main priority for the effective,reasonable and rational use of wildlife resources.Such behavior not only contributed to the survival of the mountain population in the most severe climatic conditions, but also became the main factor in the conservation of wild fauna and flora.

The traditional martial art concerned here is divided into two currents belonging to the same founding lineage: 心意拳 (lit. Intention Fist boxing) and xingyiquan形意拳(lit. Form and Intention Fist). It saw significant development in northern China, especially in Shanxi Province, during the middle of the 18th century, and in Hebei Province at the beginning of the 19th century. Today, both styles are practiced well beyond China and are presented in various traditional or sporting forms. The traditional practice is composed of ritual initiations, alchemical, curative, and psychophysics exercises closely linked to the ancient Chinese concepts of cosmological thought and folk religions. The combat techniques (bare hands and traditional weapons) embody popular warlike traditions hypothetically attributed to the handling of a military spear dating back to the 12th century in Henan Province.\nWhat is historically certain, however, is that this art was deeply influenced by the merchant culture of Shanxi Province from the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century (Liu and Qiao, 2014). Thanks to migratory movement along ancient Eurasian trade routes in late imperial China, it has progressively become an inherent part of the local knowledge of trade caravan organizations called 鏢局. The mutual influences between martial art and merchant culture have brought about the emergence of new social category, 鏢师. They shaped local knowledge that comes in a variety of forms and contextual applications: communicative competence and jargon for cooperation (Chircop-Reyes, forthcoming), trade and veterinary sciences, handcrafts, visual capacity, hearing ability, olfactory sensitivity, and defensive skills.

The epic Manas occupies a central place in the spiritual culture of the Kyrgyz people as a consolidating factor of the ethnos and basis for self-identity. The significance of the epic in the treasury of human heritage was recognised by the world community in 1995. The resolution ‘On celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Kyrgyz National Epos Manas was adopted at the 49th session of the UN General Assembly carried out by UNESCO and UNDP. The 1000th anniversary of the epic ‘Manas’ was celebrated on the international level with the participation of more than 60 countries. A number of exhibitions, festivals, and conferences dedicated to the epic ‘Manas’ were held in Turkey, China, USA, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus and other countries. The inclusion of Manas on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013 was the next important step in the recognition of the Epos as World Heritage.

Learning oral epic traditions means learning people’s lifestyle, traditions, customs and history, their present and future, their way of thinking and their spirit. Specifically, it means understanding the originality of a nation, its qualities, wishes, way of living and outlook or, in other words, learning the oral traditions of a nation means to study the nation itself. The process of modernising our present morals depends on how we have studied literary heritage, including the originality and degree of mythology in oral epic traditions. For this, initially we need to learn, investigate and research ancient mythological imaginations of our people and their oral narrative traditions, which are the base for art and literature. Oral epic works present the literary history of any nation.

The artistic world of traditional culture of Central Asian peoples is determined by contents that lie in certain historical periods and, at the same time, remain outside history. Contemporary science allows us to study the originality of the art of people in Central Asia, which is important for an objective reconstruction of the general picture of the art’s evolution. Historical and social changes cannot be studied without a clear understanding of cultural integrity and the perception of the artistic laws of culture and its context in this or that socio-historical period.

The shamanism heritage is not a tangible cultural asset preserved in the halls of a museumor a recording that can be viewed repeatedly as a still or moving image. It is true that tangible assets as subjects of observation are also part of the shamanism heritage, the essence of shamanism is a complex and real cultural asset experienced through rituals performed in the real world occupied by people living in a specific time and space. In fact, the tangible and intangible is impossible to differentiate when in comes to cultural assets of shamanism. They are treated as separate entities for realistic, methodological or technological limitations, but in fact all traditional culture, not just shamanism, is a composite of tangible and intangible elements.

This paper intends to describe the role and function of Shaman in Myanmar society. The background history of Shaman, the role and function of Shaman, Natkadaw in Myanmar society, and the current situations of Shaman living in Yangon, are elicited. Especially, what are the essential or key factors to become a Shaman in Myanmar, why Myanmar people believe in Nats (spirits), how they offer to the Nats, when they offer to the Nats, what are necessary, who is essential for this ritual or ceremony and how the Shaman maintains and transmits his or her super power from generation to generation are discussed. Descriptive or exploratory and oral history methods are used as the research designs. Secondary analysis, key informant interview are conducted for data collection. As the result outcomes, why Shaman is important to safeguard as Myanmar intangible cultural heritage, why and how the government safeguard the Shaman officially are explored.

In the historical books and folk beliefs of the Việt, there have been many stories and legends of Thánh Gióng - the Saint of the ancient Việt who was considered as one of the four immortal gods by the Vietnamese nationwide. The monarchic dynasties of the Great Việt in Vietnam bequeathed him as a Heavenly King. Legend has it that he was born as the result of a magical union between a girl from Gióng village and the giant footprint of the rain god in the Việt’s myths. At the age of three, he grew miraculously into a giant after hearing the King’s appeal to find gifted people to save the country and its people. After defeating the foreign invaders, the hero went to Sóc mountain and flew into the heaven.

Abstract: Shared between China and Mongolia, the element of “Urtiin duu, the traditional folk long song” constitutes the first exemplar of multinational nomination and joint safeguarding effort in the East Asian subregion, from which we can draw certain experiences and lessons both for international cooperation, and domestic policy-making in the safeguarding of shared living heritage, thereby providing further understanding and contributing to the implementation of the 2003 Convention and the 2030 Agenda from perspectives of East Asia. The present paper extends from briefing the bilateral candidature file to its joint 10-year safeguarding actions (2005-2015), covering discussions on post-inscription actions, problematic issues, and possible solutions. \n\nIn November 2005, “Urtiin duu, the traditional folk long song” (hereinafter referred to as “Urtiin duu,”) which connects the man with nature and the universe, was proclaimed by UNESCO as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity through a joint file by China and Mongolia. In November 2008, Urtiin duu was incorporated in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity (UNESCO, 2008). As the very first case in multinational nomination to the Lists of the 2003 Convention32 from Asia-Pacific region, China-Mongolia cooperation in the early stages of the Convention, paved the way to the safeguarding of shared living heritage and resultedin enriched experience with lessons, extending a meaningful case for reflecting issues in promoting cooperation in East Asian sub-region and beyond.

Tug of war or tugging game is one of many folk games performed in festivals of someof 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. In addition, tug of warserves to ensure abundant harvests andstrengthen communityunity and solidarity.

This networking program is based on experiences and achievements obtained from the collaborative work of UNESCO-ICHCAP in the living heritage field in Central Asia over the last decade.\n\nFor reference, the networking program comes on the heels of a three-party MoU signed by ICHCAP and organizations in Uzbekistan in 2019 and was followed by a Central Asia network meeting in Kazakhstan in 2019. In 2020, ICHCAP in cooperation with International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS), conducted a survey project about ICH festivals along the Silk Roads, particularly with countries along the steppe route. Regarding the survey result, ICHCAP, IICAS and Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat of the Korea Foundation (KF) held an online webinar and a strategic meeting to consider the need for realizing the multilateral values of Silk Roads-related cooperation