BiLuochun green tea produced with traditional techniques

The Archery is traditional entertainment sport of the Mongols. This ICH element includes in not only the Archery itself, but the traditional techniques of bow-making, associated with them practices. The bows and arrows are made from horn, bamboo and local kinds of trees.

Felt making is one of the oldest traditions, bearing an artistic and aesthetic value and symbolism closely associated with folk customs and rituals. The process of collecting wool is twice a year—in autumn and in spring. A story about the historical value and ubiquitous use of rams’ skins. The process and the staged technique of felting. One way to preserve traditional felt making. It is a question of the ecological value of felt, the methods of extraction from natural materials (plants and stones), and the use of certain ornaments associated with nature and animals.

The Limbe is a side-blown wind instrument, mostly made of hard wood or bamboo. It is considered as one of the valuable traditional musical instruments among Mongolians for its unique technique and characteristics such as hidden tune associated with circular breathing, and its performing techniques of skilful and delicate movements of fingers and tongue. The "Circular breathing" is a great achievement of nomadic Mongolians derived from their creativity, result of the exploration and necessity of their daily life. The origin and development of circular breathing is closely bound up with the skills and knowledge of ancient craftsmen or metalsmiths who specialized in gold and silver. Early Mongolian craftsmen used circular breathing techniques for crafting various decorative and ornamental items including valuable jewelleries.

The traditional musical instruments of Myanmar were prominent throughout the nation’s history. The instruments were developed as early as the Pyu Era, Bagan Era and many were dominant features of music during the Innwa Era and Konbaung Era.\n\nWhile some of these instruments have been preserved and are used today, others have been lost to history.\nIn an attempt to preserve the traditional musical instruments of Myanmar, the Ministry of Culture displayed traditional instruments and distributed the books about the instruments during an exhibition in 1955. This research shows thirty-three kinds of instruments. Moreover, in a 2003 celebration of traditional instruments, the Ministry of Culture exhibited over two hundred traditional instruments at the national museum.\nWhile the instruments on display were representative of many regions and states, many instruments were not included.\nBecause of this lack of full representativeness, additional research through field studies is required. This project proposal addresses this need.\n\nTo create a preliminary basis towards developing a national ICH inventory of craftsmanship and performing arts of traditional musical instruments in Myanmar. To safeguard ICH related to the craftsmanship and performing arts of traditional musical instruments and to promote cultural diversity among multi- ethnic groups in Myanmar. To raise awareness of the Myanmar public on the importance of ICH. To expand networking and information sharing between Myanmar and Korea.

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is transnational in nature. It is necessary to spread the perception that ICH transcends geographical spaces and national borders, creating dynamic relations, connectedness, and continuity, which is why it is a timeless bearer of cultural diversity, the foundation of the heritage of humanity. However, as the modern structure of nation-state determines the boundaries of culture with national borders, forming the concept of “culture within the country”, subsequently led to the perception that the ownership of culture belongs to the state.\n\nThe concept of exclusive ownership of culture is often controversial in the UNESCO listing process, particularly in instances where cultural heritage and cultural domains have been shared for a long time by two or more nation-states. Such conflicts lead to excessive competition for nomination, overshadowing UNESCO’s fundamental purpose of contributing to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations, as well as the very spirit of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage that promotes international cooperation and assistance in the safeguarding of ICH as a matter of general interest to humanity.\n\nConsequently, UNESCO encourages multinational inscriptions of shared intangible cultural heritage to promote regional cooperation and international safeguarding activities, preventing conflicts among countries and coping with already existing ones. By emphasizing joint nominations of shared ICH, UNESCO revised its implementation guidelines three times to deal with conflicts between countries due to the cultural property rights. In addition, States Parties are encouraged to develop networks among relevant communities, experts, professional centres, and research institutes, particularly with regard to their ICH, to cooperate at the sub-regional and regional levels.\n\nAt the 13th Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in the Republic of Mauritius in November 2018, Traditional Korean Wrestling was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as the first joint designation by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Republic of Korea. This milestone in the life of the Convention demonstrates that ICH contributes to the peace-building, reconciliation, mutual understanding, and solidarity among peoples. Indeed, only when acknowledging that shared cultural values are empowering characteristics of ICH, the true perspective of the unifying agent of the cultural diversity can be achieved, and that it is the cornerstone of reaching peace among nations.\n\nCountries in the Asia Pacific region are deeply connected by a long history of interactions, exchanges, flows of people, goods, and ideas that have shaped shared values, practices, and traditions. Having a balanced view, advocating for cultural diversity, and recognizing the commonalities among individuals, communities, and countries as a strength are virtuous tenets in the present time.\n\nIn this regard, APHEN-ICH Secretariat, ICHCAP, and UNESCO Bangkok Office are inviting the APHEN-ICH member institutes and public to this seminar under the theme of Diversity and Distinctiveness: Looking into the Shared ICH in the Asia-Pacific, to re-assess that while fragile, intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity, connecting bounds, and enhancing international dialogue and peace.

The southwestern provinces of Guangxi , Guizhou , and Yunnan make up a mountainous region with the greatest cultural diversity in China. The Zhuang people who live in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region enjoy singing shange in pairs or groups of five to six people. While majority of shange are about love between a man and a woman, some narrate epic tales. They can also be improvised in surprising ways to match the situation.\n\nThe Miao people, characterized by the unique hairstyles of the women, are scattered around Guangxi Province, Guizhou Province, and other parts of southwestern China. They have a unique singing technique that involves drawing out a single note as long as possible. Using this technique, they sing feige that sounds like flying birds and jiuge . The lusheng music played by men is also worth a listen.\n\nThe Kam (Dong) people live in Guizhou and are well known in China as the most vocally gifted tribe. Each village has several singing groups comprised of several dozen people, organized by gender and age. These groups sing dage , which are traditional polyphonic songs. The gulou and dage are such famous symbols of the Kam people and are used in tourism programs as well.\n\nAlthough there are many ethnic groups in Yunnan province, the Yi people are well known for their singing. Yi women sing songs with extremely high pitches to the accompaniment of yueqin played by the men. The Yi are also famous for their mass dances and singing parties during summer bonfire festival.

CD5 HÁT VĂN\nHát văn (văn singing) is a special traditional music associated with the Tứ Phủ religion, a local religion of the Kinh people in Vietnam. Hát văn or chầu văn means singing for reporting something to gods. In religion, it can be called cầm ca chúc thánh, which means “singing for praising gods”. There is a sentence in a book: “The Buddha loves the scripture and gods love singing”. The combination between singing and instrument playing, various repertoire and melodies, and strict regulations in performing ritual music helped hát văn become a professional traditional music, which strongly attracts listeners. The Tứ Phủ belief (the Four-God belief) is the environment in which hát văn has been nurtured and developed. The Tứ Phủ belief mentions the gods of the four components of cosmos, the world located in Heaven, Earth, Water, and Mountains. These gods are ranked differently. At the top of the temple is the Father of the Jade Emperor. Under the position of that god are Tam tòa Thánh Mẫu, ngũ vị vương Quan, tứ vị Chầu bà, ngũ vị Hoàng tử, Tứ Phủ thánh Cô, Tứ Phủ thánh Cậu, Ngũ Hổ, and ông Lốt. The Mẫu Liễu Hạnh God is considered to play the center role. Before becoming one of four Vietnamese gods, he was a normal person on the Earth with the hometown and the name.\n\nThe people in charge of performing music in the Tứ Phủ belief are called cung văn. A person practicing the cung văn profession has to train for a long time, from five years to seven years. This person has to be excellent in writing Hán-Nôm words and organizing a worship ceremony and hát văn so that he/she can take care of a temple. The cung văn profession is transferred only to family members. Hát văn music is usually performed by two cung văn, including one person playing the nguyệt (moon-shaped lute) and the other playing percussion instruments. One of them or both can sing. In a big rite, the number of performers in a band can be four or five with the participation of the tranh (16-chord zither), the nhị (Vietnamese two-string fiddle), or flutes. The nguyệt originates from the yeuqin instrument of China. However, comparing to the yeuqin instrument, the nguyệt has a longer neck with eight to eleven frets. A neck with ten frets is the most popular. Two strings of this instrument used to be made of silk but now are made of nylon. The small string is called dây tiếu, and the bigger one is called dây đài. The nguyệt is usually tuned to dây bằng (the fifth interval) and dây lệch (the fourth interval). It is seldom tuned to dây tố lan (the minor seventh interval) and to dây song thanh (an octave).

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 2 is 'ICH AND LABOR'.

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 8 is 'ICH AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AS AN OCCUPATIONAL LIVING.'