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birthdays
ICH Elements 7
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Oshi Palav, a traditional meal and its social and cultural contexts in Tajikistan
Oshi Palav (pilaf) is a kind of traditional meal of the Tajik people, which is prepared regularly at homes and in celebrations, rituals, gatherings. In dining rooms, national restaurants and tea-houses the Oshi Palav is everyday favourite meal of Tajik people. The Oshi Palav is prepared from carrot, rice, meat (beef, lamb, chicken), oil, onion and water in a big pot. For better flavor, cooks add some peas, saffron, garlic, caraway seeds, pepper and barberry. During the centuries Tajik people created different kinds of this meal, like "Oshi yak ba yak", "Palavi toki", "Oshi devzira", "Bedonapalav" and etc. up to 200 kinds of the element. In traditional Tajik culture there are many customs, rituals, celebrations and social gatherings dedicated specially to the element in which participate a big number of people, for example, the rituals "maslihat-oshi" (osh for advices), "sabzirezakunon" (cutting carrot rite), "oshi nahor" (morning osh), "oshi zanho" (osh for women), "oshi harifona" (osh of friends), "oshi gapkhuri" (osh with talking) and etc. The Oshi Palav in such gatherings and rituals brings people together and has the character of social integration and unity. People of Tajikistan recognize the Oshi Palav as a part of their traditional cultural heritage and call that as "King of meals". There are many stories, legends, folksongs, proverbs and other folklore texts regarding the element, which show the importance of the element among people. Also the element created many kinds of folk dance with plate, imitating the Oshi Palav cooking, which are played by folklore dance groups.
Tajikistan 2016 -
Vĩnh Khê Wrestling Festival
The traditional Vĩnh Khê Village Wrestling Festival is held annually on the 7th day of the first lunar month to commemorate and pay tribute to two generals - the village's tutelary gods who had great merit in defeating the enemy to save the country and protect the people during the Tran Dynasty. The two tutelary gods are Vũ Giao and Vũ Trong, and also to honor Mr. Phạm Tử Nghi - a famous general from Vinh Niem (An Duong commune) - who passed through Vĩnh village when the festival was held, he asked to participate in the wrestling competition and won a high prize. After his death, the villagers set up a memorial tablet to worship him along with the two Vũ brothers. The Vĩnh Khê Village Wrestling Festival was formed during the Tran Dynasty, 14th century (with a history of nearly 700 years), converging the crystallization of the training of soldiers proficient in martial arts to save the country by the two tutelary gods of the village - who are also the lucky gods that the villagers have built temples to worship since that time. The annual wrestling festival is held for the first 3 days of spring on the birthdays of the two tutelary gods, of which the 7th day of the first lunar month is the main festival day. The Vĩnh Khê Village Wrestling Festival is associated with a wrestling competition, which usually lasts only one day but attracts many wrestlers from famous wrestling schools in Hai Phong and other provinces and cities to compete. After the traditional rituals according to the village's customs, two elders in the village, dressed in formal clothes, will perform the "giao diep" ceremony and symbolically wrestle in the communal house, then the wrestlers will compete on the stands set up in the communal house yard. The competition rules are set by the village, regardless of age, weight class and competition time. This is also a unique feature of the Vĩnh Khê Village Wrestling Festival. Normally, the wrestlers will compete in 3 rounds, each round has a time of 3 minutes to determine the winner. However, in case the 3 rounds end without determining the winner, the wrestlers will enter the extra round without counting the time. The wrestler is considered to have won absolutely when he defeats his opponent in a position where both shoulders and one buttock touch the mat at the same time for 3 seconds. The Vĩnh Khê Village Wrestling Festival demonstrates the martial spirit, respect, and remembrance of the people's origins. The festival has been deeply rooted in the subconscious of the people, maintained as a tradition, and passed down through many generations. With its unique cultural features, in 2017, the Vĩnh Khê Village Wrestling Festival was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Viet Nam -
Art of Đờn ca tài tử music and song in southern Viet Nam
Đờn ca tài tử is a musical art that has both scholarly and folk roots. It developed in southern Việt Nam in the late nineteenth century. People in southern Việt Nam consider Đờn ca tài tử to be an indispensible spiritual cultural activity and a highly valued part of their cultural heritage. It is performed at numerous events such as festivals, ‘death anniversary' rituals such as the Death Anniversary of the Ancestors held annually on the twelfth day of the eighth lunar month, and celebratory social events like weddings and birthdays. The performers express their feelings by improvising, ornamenting and varying the ‘skeletal melody’ and main rhythmic patterns of these pieces. The audience can join practicing, making comments or creating new song texts. Đờn ca tài tử is played on a variety of different instruments, including the moon-shaped lute, two-stringed fiddle, sixteen-stringed zither, pear-shaped lute, percussion, monochord and bamboo flute. Its repertoire is based on twenty principal songs and seventy-two classical songs.
Viet Nam 2013 -
Tteok Mandeulgi(Tteok making and sharing)
National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea The making of tteok, or Korean rice cakes, begins by steaming and pounding rice powder or flours made from other grains. Grain powders can be boiled or grilled to make tteok as well. There is a time-old tradition in Korea of making and sharing a variety of types of rice cakes on occasions that mark important moments in life, such as the 100th day after birth, first birthdays, weddings, funerals, and death anniversaries, as well as on seasonal and national holidays such as Seollal (Lunar New Year), Jeongwol Daeboreum (the fifteenth day of the first lunar month), Dano (the fifteenth day of the fifth lunar month), and Chuseok (the autumn harvest celebration). Rice cakes are one of the fundamental offerings at traditional rites held at community, familial, or individual levels. Contemporary Koreans still celebrate important events such as the opening of a business or a move to a new house with rice cakes, actively transmitting this long-standing practice of tteok making and sharing. Tteok making and sharing remains an important part of Korean culture. Tteok serve as a medium for promoting solidarity among community members and symbolize sharing and consideration for others. The rice cakes used for particular ceremonies carry unique cultural meanings. It is estimated that the rice cake-making tradition in Korea dates back to ancient times, given that there are Bronze and Iron Age archaeological sites that have produced tteok steamers. Various documents from the Three Kingdoms and Goryeo Dynasty periods detail the rice cake-making practices of the era. During the Joseon Dynasty, the grains and cooking methods involved in tteok making diversified thanks to advances in agriculture and cooking. The practice of presenting rice cakes on a ritual table became further popularized. Koreans of the Joseon era, particularly aristocrats and members of the royal family, enjoyed a broader range of rice cakes with improved flavors. Local tteok-making traditions reflect the agricultural characteristics of each region. For example, residents of Gangwon-do Province, known for its production of potatoes and corn, have long been making potato and corn tteok. Since the volcanic island of Jeju does not offer a favorable environment for rice cultivation, people on this southernmost island in Korea have focused on the production of other staples such as azuki beans, buckwheat, and millet. There is a variety of tteok from Jeju that use these as the main ingredients. Western foods that entered Korea after the opening of ports in the late 19th century changed traditional Korean culinary practices, including tteok-making traditions. The spread of commercial mills contributed to a separation between the producers of tteok and consumers. Despite these changes over time, the tradition of tteok making and sharing is still actively practiced across the country with wide local variations. The rice cake tradition has been designated as National Intangible Heritage based on the following considerations: It is a time-old tradition that has been transmitted across the Korean Peninsula; its long history is evidenced in written records that date as far back as to the Three Kingdoms period; it holds great potential for research in such disciplines as anthropology and food/nutrition; it has widespread and unique local variations; and it is practiced by a large and vibrant body of communities encompassing professional producers, research centers, and individual families. As rice cake making is practiced and enjoyed by the entire nation, this element has entered the national heritage list without recognizing any specific individuals or groups as official holders.
South Korea
ICH Materials 26
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2019 Living Heritage Series: Traditional Food
This book explores creative and historical traditional food of the world through the articles provided by sixteen authors from different countries. Food is a critical element in human life and is intimately linked to the history and identity of individuals and communities. Traditional food and food ways of a community, region, or an ethnic group have become unique practices through close interactions reflecting the diverse features of the community, including the natural environment, society, politics, economy, and culture. Traditional food and food ways are then firmly embedded in the community while they are transmitted, adapted, and recreated across generations. As such, traditional food is an indispensable element in communal life and is the root of life. This book presents information on ICH reflected in traditional food and allows readers to explore the intangible value of traditional food through historical backgrounds and stories concerning the food.
South Korea 2019 -
International Forum on Unlocking the Potential of Tertiary Education for ICH Safeguarding
ICHCAP hosted an international forum, ‘Unlocking the Potential of Tertiary Education for ICH Safeguarding’ on 17 July in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in cooperation with UNESCO Bangkok Office and the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage.\n\nICH education experts from twelve Asia-Pacific countries attended the forum to discuss the main subjects of ICH education in universities in the Asia-Pacific region and community-based approaches for ICH safeguarding. Participating experts shared ICH-related curricula of regional universities and discussed the roles and importance of tertiary education institutions in the safeguarding of ICH through community-based curriculums.
South Korea 2018
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Community-based Training on Intangible Heritage Sustaining Practice and Cultivating Meaning for Next Generations: The Case of Gongs Culture of Lach People in Lac Duong District, Lam Dong Province, VietnamMy initial research among Lach community in Lac Duong town, Lam Dong province, Vietnam started with my participation in a project entitled “Establishment of associated mechanisms for conservation of landscape biodiversity and cultural space in Lang Biang Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam,” headed by Southern Institute of Ecology (Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) in 2016. The project was successful to some extent in documenting characteristics of cultural spaces of ethnic peoples in the region and the reality of these spaces’ conservation in close relationship with that of biodiversity. Noticeably, being a world heritage, gongs cultural space was recognized as one of the crucial elements constituting the entire cultural spaces and cultural identity of local ethnic groups in the region and thus recorded as being imperative for conservative strategies and actions. These preliminary conceptualizations attracted me as an anthropologist to explore further insights into the socio-economic and cultural life of the Lach in the context of their daily life from 2017 to 2018. \n\nAs the people have been taking more active parts in their national and international integration, their social and economic spaces get expanded, adjusted and re-created. So are their cultural spaces in general and gongs cultural space in specific. This paper is to explore local gongs clubs of the Lach in Lac Duong town and gongs culture restoration activities at the parish church of Langbiang to reveal the fact that gongs cultural spaces of the Lach are far from static, fixed and in need of reservation. Rather, they are dynamic, inclusive and on the process of continuous meaning making as the result of the people utilizing their agency in creating initiatives and mechanism to practice their culture and transfer it to next generations. It is implied that by ways of local participation and community based training, cultural heritage can be prolonged and perpetuated itself alive.Year2018NationViet Nam
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TWO-PART SINGING OF THE NUNG ETHNIC GROUP IN VIETNAMOf the fifty-four ethnic groups in Vietnam, the Kinh (also known as the Viet) people account for 85 percent of the entire population of Vietnam while the remaining 15 percent of the population is made up of the other fifty-three minorities. Within the group of minorities are the Nung people who have a population of around one million and reside in the northern mountainous provinces on the border with China.Year2015NationSouth Korea