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incense making
ICH Elements 13
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Bay Batabor (Ceremonial Sacred Offering)
Bay Batabor is one of the most important offerings among other offerings, as the old people in the fields often do when preparing offerings for various festivals, large or small, for example, birthday celebrations, funerals, Tes moha cheadok festival, and rainmaking ritual. How to make Bay Batabor may be slightly different from one to the next, it depends on the festival, community, or area. What we are sharing here is how to make rice cakes for cremation in Daun Ov village, Leang Dai commune, Angkor Thom district, Siem Reap province. First, they place ripe bananas and palm sugar which are wrapped in conical banana leaves in a bowl. Then take another bowl and place it on top of the bowl. On top of that bowl, there are 12 pieces of sticky rice and some spread sticky rice. Then, fold 12 banana leaves into a conical shape and put them around the 12 pieces of sticky rice. The top of the sticky rice bowl is called the middle part of Bay Batabor. It is where they place a banana corm right in the middle and they cover it with banana leaves in a conical shape. With that, they also put 12 areca palm nuts on it. On the top of the cone, there are 12 folded betel leave, 12 candles, champa flowers, yellow flowers, a paper bag of the dried areca palm, red and white paper flags, and riel banknotes. According to the elders who make Bay Batabor, they made the rice offering to put on the ceremony’s donation table. However, during the rain-making ritual at Neak Porn temple, the rice offerings are placed on the altar in front of other offerings. Before it can be placed on the table of the ceremony, those female elders, sit around the circle, make three rounds of Batabor bowls to dedicate to the Preah Shak muni stupa, and chanting for 3 times, “Tong Teng Kroleng Bopha Tok Moung Vey Bay Moung Va we are offering candle, incense, betel leaf and areca palm nut to Preah Shak muni stupa. The elders also mentioned that The Batabor rice bowl represents the mother’s body, and the 12 betel leave and the 12 candles represent the mother's breast, which has six holes in each side.
Cambodia -
Trò Chiềng Festival
The Trò Chiềng Festival is held in Trinh Xa village, Yen Ninh commune, Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province from the 10th to the 12th of the first lunar month, to commemorate the great contributions of Tam Công Trịnh Quốc Bảo - the village's tutelary god - the founder and teacher of Trò Chiềng, and to pray for a peaceful and happy new year. Trò Chiềng was originally an elephant war game (also known as elephant fighting), which later developed into a festival with 12 performances. The founder of Trò Chiềng was Thanh Hoang Tam Cong Trinh Quoc Bao (998 - 1085). Thanh Hoang Tam Cong Trinh Quoc Bao also had the name Trịnh Bạn, a native of Định Xá village (Chiềng village). Trinh Quoc Bao was an official under the Ly dynasty, and had contributed to helping King Ly Thanh Tong defeat the Song army in the North and pacify the Champa invaders in the South, so he was given the title of Dong Phuong Hac Quang Dai Vuong. The Trò Chiềng Festival is organized in 2 parts: The ceremony begins with the Phụng Nghinh worship ceremony, incense offering, and elephant procession from Trinh Xa communal house to the commune stadium to report to the village's tutelary god about a year of labor and production of the local people. The festival takes place with 12 special performances such as: Golden neck procession, chicken neck procession, tutelary god procession, son-in-law selection, horse racing, elephant fighting, dragon fighting, carp transforming into dragon, Phung Hoan procession, fireworks... The toys are made of materials: bamboo, rattan, fabric... In which, elephant fighting is considered special and has become a cultural beauty of the people of Trinh Xa village. The fighting elephants are woven from bamboo and rattan, carried by 4 strong young men on 4 legs and a strong, experienced old farmer holds the stick to control the elephant's head for fighting. When "Thượng Soạn" gives the order, the 2 elephants will charge at each other, fighting with 2 tusks; The old custom stipulates that elephants will fight in 2 rounds, each round has 3 rounds, the one that is pushed back will lose. After the performance ends, all elephants, horses, and dragons will be transformed and announced to heaven and earth, to show gratitude for the merits of their ancestors and predecessors. The festival also takes place enthusiastically with competitions: making longan cakes, and banh la rang bua - traditional products of the locality. After the performance ends, all elephants, horses, and dragons will be transformed and announced to heaven and earth, to show gratitude for the merits of their ancestors and predecessors. The Trò Chiềng Festival reenacts all aspects of life, working, fighting, playing... guiding people back to history, their roots, and a good life. The festival is a cultural activity, meeting the spiritual needs of the people, praying for the people's health, prosperity, and good crops; it is an opportunity for people to express their respect and gratitude to the gods and ancestors who have built and defended the country. This is a typical festival in the cultural life of the residents of the Mã River Delta. With its unique values and historical significance, the Tro Chieng Festival was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2017.
Viet Nam -
Cấp sắc Ritual of the Nùng
Cấp sắc Ritual - an important ritual in the spiritual life of the Nung ethnic group. The Cấp sắc Ritual of the Nung people is a ritual for people who are capable of becoming shamans. People who are granted the title must meet many different standards (they must have morality, have social knowledge) and be loved, trusted, and recognized by everyone in the community for their maturity. Cấp sắc Ritual is an important, big event in a man's life. People who are granted the title will be allowed to participate in practicing religious ritual activities in the Nung ethnic community. According to the concept of the Nung ethnic group, only people with "roots" can be granted the title. Being granted the title means making the house and oneself proud, so the person granted the title, along with his family and clan, must prepare carefully for months in advance. The first step is to choose a good day, a good month and prepare offerings such as: goat, pig, chicken, rice, wine, white cloth, red cloth, colored paper... Each item has its own regulations on quantity, no shortage, no excess. The main priests performing the ceremony include: Taoist priests, Buddhist priests, sorcerers and assistant priests. The beginning of the ceremony is to report to the ancestors of the family, to report to the saints, and to the heavenly officials about a major event of the family. The Buddhist priest opens the way to heaven to welcome the ancestors and ancestors of the family to attend the ceremony, to pray to dispel conflicts and bad luck for the family through small ceremonies: reporting to the ancestors, reporting to the Jade Emperor, offering gifts, and offering incense. Next are the ceremonies such as: the birth ceremony of the person receiving the ceremony, the ceremony of giving tools to disciples, the ceremony of reading the royal decree, dispelling bad luck, rewarding the army, sending off the saints, the ceremony of thanking the ancestors and the gods for supporting and allowing the priests to perform the ceremony of granting titles and giving gifts to the person receiving the titles. The most important is the birth ceremony of the Huong child (the ceremony for the person receiving the title) which begins at midnight. After the child was born, the monks held a ceremony to worship the ghosts, fed him, cut his hair, combed his hair, and pricked his head with a needle as a warning and instruction to help him understand everything. The Cấp sắc Ritual has great value in the spiritual life of the Nung ethnic group. Because the ceremony has the meaning of educating morality and personality, reminding each person to maintain a respectful and orderly lifestyle in the community and to be grateful to their ancestors and the gods who have protected them. The Cấp sắc Ritual is like a big stage: performing various forms of singing, spirit mediumship, and performances. After receiving the Cấp sắc, the person receiving the Cấp sắc becomes a shaman. With that meaning, the Cấp sắc Ritual of the Nung ethnic group in Thai Nguyen province has been decided by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to be listed in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Viet Nam -
Tradition Bronze Casting of Chè (Trà Đông) Village
The Traditional Bronze Casting of Che village (Tra Dong) has a history of thousands of years and has been preserved, maintained and promoted to this day. According to legend, the profession dates back to the end of the Tien Le dynasty and the beginning of the Ly dynasty, brought to the village by two people with the surname Vu. The mold-making stage with two types of outer molds and molds is the most important. Bronze casting tools include: a pot, a tube and a fire-blowing tank. The main materials are copper and metals mixed according to a secret formula. The fuel for cooking copper is coal. The melting temperature is about 800 to 1000 degrees Celsius. The practitioner is male. When cooking, the craftsman observes by experience to know when to pour it into the mold. When pouring copper into the mold, the copper must flow evenly and pour continuously until it is full. They have experience so that the copper expands and releases gas quickly, does not stick to the mold and cracks the product. The final stage is to cool and polish the product. Many bronze casting products are rich in form and diverse in types and are consumed nationwide and exported abroad. With skillful and talented hands, artisans have restored traditional products such as: casting bronze drums, bronze gongs, bronze statues, worship items, incense burners, animal figures... and the most outstanding is the art of casting Dong Son bronze drums with sophisticated patterns and details according to ancient patterns and designs. Currently, the number of establishments maintaining and developing the bronze casting profession in Tra Dong craft village is more than 130 households. These establishments provide regular jobs for nearly 400 workers. In 2018, The Traditional Bronze Casting of Che village (Tra Dong), Thieu Trung commune, Thieu Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Viet Nam
ICH Materials 52
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Poe-zo (Incense making)
An artistic product often like a stick or a bunch of sticks basically made from powders of mixed aromatic plants and medicinal substances. It emits sweet fragrance smoke when burnt and normally offered in and at the sacred places to please deities and to get cleansed and rid-off defilements. \n\nThe production of incense is considered one of the religious crafts, and it is another way of making Sang (smoke) offering. According to the Bhutanese artisans’, the craftsmanship dates back to the time immemorable when the first Lord Buddha Nam-par zig-pa (Skt. Bispa shayi) attained enlightenment and offered the Sweet Fragrance smoke by burning the Incenses by the enlightened beings; celestial beings and Bodhiasattavas made from varieties of heavenly medicinal herbs. The tradition gradually spread in the spheres of Bonpos (per Buddhist religion of Tibet) and Hinduism and maintained its skill until Buddha Sakya Muni’s period which is about 2500 years back then. \n\nThe art was also adopted by the Chinese Buddhist missioners and further spread to Mongolia, Korea and Japan as well. In Tibet, the making Smoke offerings and burning incense was officially implemented the 7th Century during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo (R. 618 AD- 650 AD) when Princess Wenchang (M. 641 AD-650 AD) and her entourage members suffered illness while heading towards Lhasa (then, the capital of Tibet) as bride to the King. The Princess tried to medicated using physician attendants but could not bring to the normal yet, by offering the smoke offering made attendants fully recovered. The instruction to make Smoke Offering was from the Minister Thonmi Sambota () who had a visualization from the sacred Sakya Muni images to collect the medicinal herbs from the mountains and making smokes will ease any diseases associated to Nagas. Later, incense making and burning tradition was gradually invented using the same raw materials and medicinal ingredients of Smoke offering. \n\nIn Bhutan, the art of Incense making was brought by the Country Unifier Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1654) and was initially practiced in the Dzongs (fortress) by the monk artisans. Thereafter, the tradition remained intact amongst the Bhutanese being the Buddhist and making offering of incense had been a daily special offering substances in the individual shrines, temples and monasteries. Currently, there are a countable incense manufacturing centers across the country. These industries produce mainly two different incenses: Ja-ju poe (herbal incense) with a yellowish texture and Zu-poe or Choe-jue poe (incense mixed with flesh and blood ingredients) with a brown color. Ja-ju incense is usually burned explicitly for the enlightened beings and when performing Drol-chog (ritual of Goddess Tara), while the other is offered to the guardian deities and guardian spirits during affirmation rituals.
Bhutan -
Poe-zo (Incense making)
An artistic product often like a stick or a bunch of sticks basically made from powders of mixed aromatic plants and medicinal substances. It emits sweet fragrance smoke when burnt and normally offered in and at the sacred places to please deities and to get cleansed and rid-off defilements. \n\nThe production of incense is considered one of the religious crafts, and it is another way of making Sang (smoke) offering. According to the Bhutanese artisans’, the craftsmanship dates back to the time immemorable when the first Lord Buddha Nam-par zig-pa (Skt. Bispa shayi) attained enlightenment and offered the Sweet Fragrance smoke by burning the Incenses by the enlightened beings; celestial beings and Bodhiasattavas made from varieties of heavenly medicinal herbs. The tradition gradually spread in the spheres of Bonpos (per Buddhist religion of Tibet) and Hinduism and maintained its skill until Buddha Sakya Muni’s period which is about 2500 years back then. \n\nThe art was also adopted by the Chinese Buddhist missioners and further spread to Mongolia, Korea and Japan as well. In Tibet, the making Smoke offerings and burning incense was officially implemented the 7th Century during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo (R. 618 AD- 650 AD) when Princess Wenchang (M. 641 AD-650 AD) and her entourage members suffered illness while heading towards Lhasa (then, the capital of Tibet) as bride to the King. The Princess tried to medicated using physician attendants but could not bring to the normal yet, by offering the smoke offering made attendants fully recovered. The instruction to make Smoke Offering was from the Minister Thonmi Sambota () who had a visualization from the sacred Sakya Muni images to collect the medicinal herbs from the mountains and making smokes will ease any diseases associated to Nagas. Later, incense making and burning tradition was gradually invented using the same raw materials and medicinal ingredients of Smoke offering. \n\nIn Bhutan, the art of Incense making was brought by the Country Unifier Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1654) and was initially practiced in the Dzongs (fortress) by the monk artisans. Thereafter, the tradition remained intact amongst the Bhutanese being the Buddhist and making offering of incense had been a daily special offering substances in the individual shrines, temples and monasteries. Currently, there are a countable incense manufacturing centers across the country. These industries produce mainly two different incenses: Ja-ju poe (herbal incense) with a yellowish texture and Zu-poe or Choe-jue poe (incense mixed with flesh and blood ingredients) with a brown color. Ja-ju incense is usually burned explicitly for the enlightened beings and when performing Drol-chog (ritual of Goddess Tara), while the other is offered to the guardian deities and guardian spirits during affirmation rituals.
Southeast Asia
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ICH Courier Vol.38 Funeral Ceremonies and New Beginnings
ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 38 is 'Funeral Ceremonies and New Beginnings.'
South Korea 2019 -
2019 World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage
2019 World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage
South Korea 2019
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BORO KACHARI: A TALE OF FAITH, FEAR, DESIRE, AND THE HOLY GHOSTIn India, a land of faith, there are numerous occasions and venues where fear, desire, spirits, and rituals converge, leaving logic to take a back seat.Year2017NationSouth Korea
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BUDDHIST ELEMENTS IN THAI WEDDING CEREMONIESWedding ceremonies in Thailand are generally divided into two parts: a Buddhist component, which includes reciting prayers and offering food and other gifts to monks and images of the Buddha, and a non-Buddhist component, which is rooted in folk traditions and centers on the couple’s families.Year2015NationSouth Korea