Materials
agricultural ritual
ICH Materials 12
Publications(Article)
(6)-
Identifying Ways to Develop Intangible Heritage Festivals through Community Networks (Focusing on the Case of the Gijisi Tug-of-War Festival)The tug-of-war is widely spread throughout the world, especially in agricultural communities. The Gijisi Tug-of-War Festival is highly regarded. Held on the second weekend in April, it has a five-hundred-year history. The event, which is based on agriculture, fishery, and merchant traditions, is held to wish for prosperity and good luck for the coming year. The tug-of-war represents the agricultural, rural, and social characteristics of the region. The rope used for the event is two hundred meters long and one meter thick, so it is truly a community event. Similar tug-of-war games are also held in other nations. After creating a museum for Gijisi tug-of-war, members discovered that it could be a symbol of the region, so the local government invested into the museum. After building the museum, we wanted to expand our knowledge of tug-of-war events in other countries. In the past, there wasn’t much communication among the different communities celebrating tug-of-war festivities. However, after building the museum, we had the opportunity to invite other countries as a sort of network that allows research into other types of tug-of-war in the Asia-Pacific region. As Gijisi tug-of-war is well known, we thought that having a festival to display other cultures’ traditional tug-of-war through a networked festival.\n\nTug-of-war (juldarigi in Korean) is an intangible heritage that is commonly found in various regions across the world. In particular, it is a popular activity that takes place with the aim to foster harmony and solidarity among communities in rice-farming regions across Korea, Japan,and various Southeast Asian countries.Year2020NationSouth Korea
-
International Cooperation through Tugging Rituals and Games and their Achievements: Activities in Post Multinational InscriptionsTug-of-war is a universal cultural phenomenon all around the world. Especially in Asia, the tug-of-war is related to rice farming and is thus commonly found in the farming cultures of Northeast and Southeast Asia. As practiced in Asia, the tug-of-war is performed either as a prayer for rain, or for a good harvest, or to foretell whether the year’s harvest will be good or bad. Tug-of-war activities have similarities that include two teams pulling at the opposite ends of a rope. They also have distinctness, individuality, and creativity interactivity with the climate or environment, making tug-of-war events worth preserving as a common element of Asian intangible cultural heritage (ICH).\n\nRecognizing the universality and distinctness of tug-of-war traditions in Asia, Cambodia, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam prepared a multinational file to nominate “Tugging Rituals and Games” to the UNESCO Representative List of the ICH of Humanity through mutual communications and meetings. The Republic of Korea submitted the nomination file to the Convention Secretariat on behalf of the four countries on 31 March 2014. The nomination file was eventually recognized on 2 December 2015 during the tenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee held from 30 November to 4 December 2015 in Namibia.\n\nThe inscription of Tugging Rituals and Games to the UNESCO Representative List of the ICH of Humanity has brought about a sensation in each country. The news of the multinational inscription was covered in a slew of media outlets in each country, and in particular, Vietnam selected the multinational inscription as one of the top ten cultural news events of 2015. The Republic of Korea, which led the multinational inscription, conducted commemorative events, such as holding an exhibition and publishing books in Korean and English.Year2021NationSouth Korea
-
VARIETY AND MEANING IN JULDARIGI, KOREAN TUG-OF-WARDuring Dan-o, Daeboreum, and Chuseok, pre-modern Koreans used to hold celebrations composed of rituals to the communal deity, communal games, and various folk arts. Among the communal games, the tug-of-war was the most common. It was widely distributed around the central southern region of Korea and played simultaneously or in rotation with other communal games.Year2014NationSouth Korea
-
Punnuk: Unwinding after the Harvest, the Tugging Ritual in the PhilippinesThe punnuk is a tugging ritual of the village folk from three communities in Hungduan, Ifugao in Northern Luzon, Philippines. It is performed at the confluence of Hapao River and a tributary as the final ritual after the rice harvest. Its consummation brings to a close an agricultural cycle and signals the beginning of a new one. \n\nThe punnuk is a ritual of pomp and revelry. Garbed in their predominantly red-col-ored attire of the Tuwali ethno-linguistic subgroup, the participants negotiate the terraced fields in a single file amidst lush greens under the blue skies. The tempo builds up as the participants reach the riverbank, each group positioned opposite the other. The excitement is sustained through the final tugging match, and the sinewy brawn of the participants is highlighted by the river’s rushing water.Year2019NationJapan,Cambodia,South Korea,Philippines,Ukraine,Viet Nam
-
Qalishuyan HeritageThe Qalishuyan is the 1,000-year-old ritual of Mashhad Ardehal is the only religious ceremony in Persia that history is according to the solar-agricultural calendar. This ritual is known as “Qali (Carpet) Friday”. This is a symbolic ritual of martyrdom, the burial of Imamzadeh Sultan Ali, a holy figure among the people of Kashan and Fin. The symbolic coffin is a carpet that is carried to a stream and washed, then returned by the people of Fin and Khave with respect and ritual details.\n\nThe Qalishuyan has their own set of rituals. Starting the Qalishuyan takes place a few days before the major ceremonial date.\n\nJar Friday, the Friday before Qalishuyan, is the day when individuals in Mashhad Ardehal are invited to the Qalishuyan. Jarchi is a person who walks Fin village, Kashan’s Bazaar neighborhood, and Khaveh village and announcing the Qalishuyan’s arrival and the pilgrimage week to Imamzadeh Sultan Ali.\n\nThe most important thing about the Qalishuyan is that it is a public ceremony and people hold it, so the Kashani families always prepare a few days before the ceremony so that they can perform the Qalishuyan well and participate in it.\n\nIt is usual to recite the Qur’an aloud at the entrance and in the courtyard of Imamzadeh Sultan Ali on the night before Qalishuyan.\n\nThe people of Kashan believe that the presence and observance of the Qalishuyan ritual is one of their religious duties. Participants gather in the courtyard of the Safa in Sultan Ali’s shrine with special etiquette. In the morning of the ceremony, the people of Khaveh gather at the tomb and sprinkle rose water on the carpet, then collect the carpet and wrap it with green threads and deliver it to the Finns to respectfully carry it to the stream. And wash with spring water. Those carrying the carpet must move quickly and agitatedly so that the soil rises from the ground and they move their sticks in the air towards the Imamzadeh. Fighting the Imamzadeh killer and helping him is symbolized by moving the sticks. The carpet is transported with incredible enthusiasm from the Safa courtyard to Prince Hussein’s historical spring. After arriving at the spring, the carpet is placed on the ground and bathed with a few drops of water. They put the carpet back on their shoulders with dignity and respect after bathing it and carried it to the shrine with the same enthusiasm as before. After these steps, a mourning ceremony is held at the tomb of Sultan Ali and several people who were involved in Imam Sultan Ali’s martyrdom will be cursed during this ritual.\n\nAnd on Friday next week, the people of Nashlaj will hold their ceremony.\n\nThe Mashhad Ardahal Qalishuyan rituals are registered on the list of cultural and intangible heritage by UNESCO and are performed every year on the second Friday of the month of Mehr, according to the solar-agricultural calendar. Many people travel to Mashhad Ardahal to watch the ceremony.\n\nIn the Qalishuyan ritual, people do not wash the carpet, they purify the carpet. They want to rid themselves of lies and slanders, then remove the shame of this happening.\n\nPhoto Provided by Mohammad ShirkavandYear2021NationIran
-
PUNNUK, THE TUGGING RITUAL IN HUNGDUAN, CLOSING AN AGRICULTURAL CYCLEIn Hungduan, Ifugao, three communities—Hapao, Baang, and Nungulunan—observe three post-harvest rituals, collectively known as huowah. Punnuk, an intense tugging match in the Hapao River, is the last of the three rituals.Year2014NationSouth Korea