Kyrgyzstan, a landlocked country the territory of which is more than 94 percent mountainous, is among the most attractive lands located at the heart of Asia on the ancient Silk Road trade routes. The cultural heritage of the Kyrgyz people has been greatly influenced by their nomadic history. Kyrgyz people occupy a unique cultural environment and have a rich ICH. The vitality of this cultural heritage is safeguarded and transmitted from generation to generation as collective memory, orally or through practice and expression.

The oral tradition of the Kyrgyz people is the basis of a unique intangible cultural heritage that reflects Kyrgyz cultural identity. Oral heritage, developed over centuries, depicts the history and culture of the Kyrgyz people. Their creativity has been proven to survive exclusively in an oral form for many generations. This oral tradition represents a unique layer of traditional knowledge, making it a valuable source of cultural and traditional values and evidence of the development of the sociopolitical history of the Kyrgyz people. Kyrgyz oral heritage takes a wide variety of forms, including songs, fairy tales, proverbs, and riddles. These can all be different in terms of content and structure. Depending on the genre, oral tradition can reflect history, legends, fairy tales, or lore, which can be important in educating younger generations about the value of peace, attitudes toward nature and people, and love for the motherland. Many traditional oral works portray the main characters as defenders of their native land, arousing a sense of pride, and also depict the rich nature of the Kyrgyz land, nourishing love for their home. Some elements of oral tradition such as songs and folktales tell the stories or the specificities and peculiarities of the everyday life of Kyrgyz people. Folktales also reflect the esthetic views of the Kyrgyz people and teach us to recognize beauty, rhythm, and skillful use of language.\n

"1. Introduction: Safeguarding ICH through a Designation System\nSimilar to other countries, the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of Korea, which embodies Korean cultural identity, is now facing the threat of transformation and disappearance as a result of rapid industrialisation and urbanisation over the last several decades. In light of this threat, Korea enacted institutional safeguarding measures for intangible cultural heritage beginning with the establishment of the Cultural Properties Protection Act in 1962. \nThe Cultural Properties Protection Act defines ICH as cultural manifestations of intangible nature with high historical and artistic significance, such as theatrical and musical performing arts as well as crafts and skills. The act, furthermore, distinguishes ICH into two different groups: Important Intangible Cultural Property, designated by the state, and Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage, designated by local or regional governments. The number of items listed as Important Intangible Cultural Properties was 7 in 1964, and by 2011, this amount expanded to 114, and the number of Provincial Intangible Cultural Properties is 446. \nThe overriding principle for all activities involved in protecting and managing cultural properties and reviving them as living culture is preserving these heritage elements in their original forms. \nHowever, in the case of ICH, due to their very nature of existing and being transmitted orally, they are especially vulnerable and endangered in today’s quickly evolving, industrialised and urbanised society. Ensuring their continuity over time is accordingly more challenging and requires active intervention. \nTherefore, state and local governments select and designate categories of ICH more severely threatened than others by the changing environment, and provide support for transmission activities by Holders and transmitters of skills and the arts to guarantee the continuity of traditions and the cultural identity of the nation. "

Central Asia stands at the crossroads of ancient civilisations. Its territory, crossed by the northern part of the great Silk Road, constitutes an ensemble of cultural heritage sites and monuments that express common historical experiences as well as reflect an extraordinary cultural diversity dating from prehistoric times to the Islamic period and beyond. For centuries, the phenomenon of intangible cultural heritage was a key factor for the transmission of indigenous cultural traditions for future generations as well as a matching point for intercultural dialogue in Central Asia—a region with unique oral and music traditions.

Alisher Ikramov reviews information collected through a survey funded by ICHCAP. While his work primarily reviews ICH festivals, he is also able to gain insights into ways that networks can promote ICH along the Silk Roads. Looking at the importance of local communities and the popularity of such festivals locally, there is concern about a lack of a network to encourage larger tourist attendance. However, there are feelings that festivals do not authentically represent local traditions and products. Therefore, this could lead to an undesirable level of commoditization and as a result lower the quality of the event.

The rapid processes of globalization and mass culture have increased interest among the Kyrgyz people regarding traditional culture for the preservation of historical memory and ethno-cultural identity. In this, the role of UNESCO is remarkable, one which promotes the preservation, development, and dissemination of national culture as well as contributes to transmitting culture and ensures its continuity over time.

Bread making is more than a culinary tradition: it is an integral part of the Austrian Lesach Valley’s cultural heritage, which carries aesthetic, symbolic, and religious value for the community of the valley. Rituals, customs, and personal stories constitute the nature of the element and illustrate the high significance of the practice for the region.

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.

This discussion, centered on the topic of “The Universality and Diversity of Shaman Heritage in Asia,” regards the research done in shamanism in Phillippines, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Looking at these regions, the research is, after all, about the shaman heritage in Southeast Asia. Korea, which is part of the Northeastern part of Asia, has done research of shamanism in relation to Siberia and Mongolia. This presentation, however, made us discover unexpected and interesting similarities between the shamanism of Korea and that of Southeast Asia. I’d like to personally thank all the researchers for their meaningful presentations. I’m very glad about this opportunity for many countries to share their information on shamanism and to discuss the cultural worth of the shaman heritage of Asia.

Once upon a time, a beautiful young woman wandered into a jungle carrying her little baby girl in search of food. She was very tired, so she made a soft bed from the petals of flowers and laid the baby on it. Then she left to search for fruits to satisfy her immense hunger. Two great birds who had no babies of their own found the little human baby in its nest of flowers and carried it away on their backs to their own nest. Their nest was very large; many strange birds lived together there in harmony. There was a parrot, a myna, a hen, a stork, a kingfisher, and a tailorbird in their nest.

Gandharba, also written Gandharva or Gaine is one of the musician communities of Nepal. This community has their own unique culture, musical instruments, music, traditions, festivals, language, rituals and social practices perpetuated from their forefathers. Long before the postal networks and the use of electronic communications in Nepal, the musicians of this unique community would roam all over the nation to spray the news in the form of songs and music. The Gandharba were the sole entertainer and the information disseminator of the numerous isolated communities across the mountains of Nepal. Thus they are also wknown as the messenger of the nation. But due to the Modernization, Urbanization, Socio-economic challenges, limited Education and other changes seen in the society; the present status of the Gandharba community’s identity and the intangible cultural heritage is at risk. The outcome of this research have identified the major challenges of the survival of the community’s identity and possible solution and suggestion for building effective networking system among the Gandharba communities of Nepal to confront the challenges and to support, revitalize, reconstruct and safeguard their intangible cultural heritage and their identity in a long run.