Since Korea has undergone the fierce contemporary history through the Japanese colonial era and the Korean War, the Korean government enacted the Cultural Heritage Protection Act in 1962 for safeguarding and transmitting Korean cultural heritage. In this act, the term intangible cultural heritage (ICH) was officially coined as a legal concept, and provisions were prepared to designate and safeguard ICH at the national level. Thus, the Korean legal system for safeguarding ICH was established forty years before the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003).

A Bonkar (refined Bon religion that doesn’t involve animal sacrificial offering) traditional rite, Yak-lai is performed in some villages in Ura and Tang Gewogs (blocks) who owns la-nor (highland cattle) esp. Yaks. Colloquially, Yak-lai means ‘yak deity’ and if translated in Dzongkha (national tongue) it is called Yak Lha. However, the ritual is not strictly practiced by the Yak owners but, those households who owns tha-nor (normal cattle) also propitiate the god for prosperity of their livestock. The rite specifically invokes the yak deity Lha Wodue Gongjan, who is considered one of the principal deities of Bon who is believed the ultimate source of any blessings possesses supreme ability to fulfill the desires of worldly beings. Residents of Bumthang who have highland cattle, or otherwise practice animal husbandry take part in the three-day Yak-lai ritual every year.

Renaissance (rebirth) does not occur just once in human history, but may manifest in any era. Renaissance resembles the resurrection principle that starts with death and ends with revival. The educated used to say “let’s return to Greece” during the Renaissance, hoping to revive the dead Greece. What should we say if we re-attempt the Renaissance movement today? Not to mention the already generalized animal ethics, it is not far from plant ethics being taught in universities. If we agree on the first Renaissance being the Christian doctrine that defines the Earth being the center of the universe where human, the sole legitimate creation of the one and only God, live, from where should we begin the search for the system of original thought, in the midst of the traditional philosophy; only human possess souls facing biological\nresistance which claims animals, or even plants have souls? As the thoughts in the beginning era had been overcome through the Renaissance, we are now in the need of second Renaissance to overcome the life philosophy, which originated in BC400-500, of east and west. In other words, like the example of one returning to the previous era, Greece, to overcome the theology originated in the beginning era, we should worry about the search-point for a model that would help us to overcome the philosophy of BC5-6, where the life philosophy originated. What if, plants-have-souls philosophy develops to a fact that states even non-living have souls, where we should find the reference model? If such situation becomes the reality by any chance, it would be reasonable to take Shamanism as one of our cards.

Newar culture has different lifecycle rituals, performed at different stages of life from birth to death. These rituals are complex and embedded in the socio-cultural environment. With every lifecycle ritual, a person gains certain rights, responsibilities, and maturity within the society.

It had taken a few weeks for roads to be cleared of rockfalls and to be made safe enough for vehicles carrying essential goods and supplies in the wake of the June 2013 flash floods and landslides in the western Himalayan region, in particular the mountainous state of Uttarakhand. A small team from the specialist center that I was associated with, the Centre for Environment Education Himalaya, was traveling to a few of the villages that had been affected, which were also villages in which the center had been working for some years before the natural disaster. Those in the small group were anxious. There had been no way to contact people in the villages nor even local administrators in the sub-district offices. Phone lines had yet to be restored, and mobile phone towers were being slowly replaced. Had there been casualties amongst the groups the center had trained? Were homes and school buildings still standing? No-one would know until they reached.

Dongjo Yoo, a renowned installation artist, focuses primarily on environmental projects, specifically projects related to water. His most notable work is the Water Performance Installation Project, an eleven-year project starting from 2014, involving eleven lakes and rivers in ten countries. Under the motto of “there is no ‘water’ in the presence of water, and there is ‘water’ in the absence of water,” the project has been a large success. To highlight the importance of the environment, Mr. Yoo is looking forward to expanding his project to areas along the Silk Roads where water is a scarce and valuable resource.

Water is commonly perceived as the source of life, and such a perception can be found in numerous legends. All living beings depend on water. In Korea, water was considered sacred, leading to many beliefs related, including jeongsu (water purification) beliefs related to exorcism. People sanctified water to preserve clean water. Sacred water implies that water should be kept clean and not abused. Today, with the development of water supply systems, water is no longer sacred. Instead, there is a great demand for quality water, and water is increasingly commercialized. This article explores water management traditions and practices related to wells and dammed pools (reservoirs), which are some of the most important sources of water in our daily life.

This publication contains papers from the 2021 World Intangible Cultural Heritage Forum held online for three days, from September 29 to October 1, 2021. The event was hosted by the National Intangible Heritage Center and organized by ICHCAP.\n\nThe forum was held under the theme of “Rediscovering Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Era of Convergence and Creativity” to re-examine the creative value of intangible cultural heritage and present the possibilities by examining examples of innovation and value creation through intangible cultural heritage.

People living in the Phuket area of Thailand come from many provinces, allowing many opportunities for cultural exchange, including in the areas of food, clothes and dialects. Through such exchange, people develop an appreciation for their own heritage as well as for cultural diversity. As in many schools in Thailand, Ban Ku Ku school’s teachers incorporate elements of local culture and heritage into the curriculum to increase children’s interest in the lessons.

Some say that one of the new paradigms representing 21st century is ecology. In a situation where nature is being rapidly polluted and destroyed, humans are just beings that interact with nature as part of the ecosystem. For all of us who are preparing for the post-corona era, the ecological crisis, which can be called as the crisis of humanity, has become a daily life. Current infectious diseases that have invaded human life are not irrelevant to the disturbance of natural ecosystems caused by climate change and environmental destruction. Changes in the natural environment have a great influence on the function of the ecosystem and the livelihood of mankind, and considering the biodiversity of the planet, there is a great deal of direct and indirect implications for the living creatures.

Neolithic tombs prove that humans were living in Mongolian territory around 4000 BCE. A tomb with a man buried in a hole in a sitting position was discovered in Dornod Province and provides such evidence.

Throughout the years, I have been researching Korean recreational activ-ities, and among them, the tug-of-war was definitely the most central theme. According to my research, the Korean tug-of-war has many different fea-tures following the different regional characteristics, but they also have similar patterns. Although it is possible to speculate that the diverse characteristics of each region’s tug-of-war is due to the area’s geo-ecological, sociocultural, and magi-co-religious factors and culture exchange, it is difficult to prove these factors in depth. Thus, this paper examines the diverse features present in the tug-of-war through studies completed up to now. Also I would like to add that the only intent for the tug-of-war studies was to compile and examine them in this report. Despite many methods in examining the diversity of tug-of-war, this paper sets a few standards to reveal the present features, and with these standards, the meaning of Korean tug-of-war can be understood.