Name: Li Ming  Student ID: S08602
 
Research paper supervisor:Dr.Sekou Conde
 
Minzu University of China
 
Abstracts: As a multi-ethnic nation,the cultural heritage are the essences of our wisdom and culture as well as the foundation to identify our self-confidence and respects.It can be served as the bond of affections between all ethnic groups and the foundation of national unity.However,with the development of economy and globalization,the precious intangible cultural relics are fading away unbelievably, especially in western areas. It is pressing for the whole society to take action,many strategies shoud be taken,including, legislation, tourism, cultural consciousness, dissemination.
Key words: defination;contex; strategies;value.
 
Introduction
China,as a unified and multi-national country with five thousands years’ history, creates rich and colorful intangible heritages.These heritages are the essences of our wisdom and culture as well as the foundation to identify our self-confidence and respects. Intangible cultural heritage is big and colourful treasure for the whole nation even for the entire world.However,cultural relics in China now face great challenges posed by economic globalization and urbanization. "Almost every minute some folk culture is dying and we are racing against time." [1] said Zi Huayun, senior research fellow with the China Arts Academy. So, the fact is many forms of intangible cultural heritage are in danger of extinction.
Defination
 
There are many kinds of intangible cultural heritages in province wide,in naitonwide and in world wide,almost everyone is contacted with cultural relics. However,we are possibly ignore them in everyday life or donnot treat them seriously.For example:paper-cutting is popular in my hometown. People from generation to generation ususally paste them in festivals,but they donnot know this art is a kind of cultural hertaige and never think that we should protect and develop it. That is why I think what is more important is to help people especially those in cultural areas to understand more about Intangible Cultural Heritage.
So what is Intangible Cultural Heritage ?
Despite current efforts to protect traditional culture,the therm”Intangible Cultural Heritage” was virtually unheard of in China until three yeas ago. Everyone can define it from their own perspective,even the authoritive organization like UNESCO(United Nations Educational ,Scientific,and Cultural Organization)has revised the defination for 5 or 6 times according to current situation. Names like “Oral Cultural Heritage”,”Non-material Cultural Heritage ”and “Intangible Cultural Heritage” have been used,it’s more complex now. [2]But we can still get a general conception: ICH is defined as the practices, representations, and expressions, as well as the knowledge and skills that communities,groups and in some cases, individuals, recognize as a part of their cultural heritage[3]. From the defination we can see that a traditonal constraction in ethnic area,a special kind of instrument,dance,song and folk story all can be seen as intangible cultural heritage only if it was formed in a long history by communities and can reflect certain lifestyle and regional characteristics.
Intangible Cultural Heritage is handed down from generation to generation. It is manifested in the following domains: “Oral traditions, including language,performing art,social practices, rituals and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, and traditional craftsmanship. It is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature, and their historical conditions of existence. “[4]So,intangible cultural heritage is the reflection to people’s life.
 
Contex
 
Cultural relics in China now face great challenges posed by economic globalization which is compared as strong wind blowing across the world,it has become a double-edged sword. For one thingt,it helps people in every corner of the world to understand others far away and makes the world become a unity, it seems that pepple all over the world have become family members and tend to have similar hobbies and interests. For the other thingt,people are usually influenced by other culture,actually that’s not a bad thing, however, some are so addicted to that different culture that their own has been ignored or even looked down. Jia Mingru, a senior official at the Ministry of Culture, said: "Many ethnic languages, costumes, songs, dances and lifestyles are disappearing as modern civilization steps into ethnic-minority people's everyday lives."[5] Economic globalization to some extent is going to eradicate the diversity of world’s culture.
Meng Xiaosi, vice minister of culture, said: "In the period of economically oriented development, it is easier for these cultures to be influenced by modern civilization and get lost."[6]For example, as the booming of popular culture in modern life, other cultural forms such as musicals, dramas and popular songs have affected local operas across China. Its fans are getting old while young people these days are reluctant to watch operas, saying its out of fashion and hard to understand, so the audience of Han opera decreased sharply during the past two decades.
The Chinese economy has been growing at a rapid pace over the past three decades, providing the country's cultural undertakings with strong potential financial support. But it does not necessarily follow that the State's financial strength automatically translates into progress in terms of cultural undertakings.
As a matter of fact, this rapid economic growth did not help bring about obvious progress in the protection of relics and cultural heritage. On the contrary, some illegal trades in cultural relics have been rife over a fairly long period of time.China’s rapidly developing economy and pursuit of the new is quickly replacing old traditions and ways of life. Fast food,Western pop music,the Internet,Nike sneakeres,the NBA，the World Cup and Western block busters dominate the lives of today’s youth.With the acceleration of economy,traditional practices associated with rural ways of life are increasingly regarded as backward and obsolete.
Not only has economic development transformed current social practices,but also permeated perceptions of traditional culture in China.Western musical instruments,such as piano,have been introduced to local operas,while traditional dramas andother types of performance art are quickly disappearing.Estimates show that there were more than 380 types of Chinese opera in the 1960s,today the figure is half that number.[7]”There are only a few people who can sing these operas and the audiences is quickly disappearing too,”says Tian Qing,director of China’s Intagible Cultural Heritage Research and Protection Center.[8] If there is only one radio in a remote village, young people there want to hear rock or pop songs. Girls wish to own a pair of high heels.
In order to pursue high profits,many historic cities and scenic spots have been destroyed for buildings or are hard to pass on due to excessive exploration and inappropriate use;Illegal trade and smuggling activities have not been curbed, which has led to the loss of national treasures overseas.Cultural relics held by minority ethnic groups have lost their identity due to the changing lifestyle of the people. Struck by modern lifestyles, unique folk cultural items are disappearing unbelievably fast. The result is “There were 368 styles of opera in the 1950s, and 317 in the early 1980s. By the end of 2005, there were only 267. “said vice-minister of culture Zhou Heping.[9] So to some extent, it’s not completely a good thing to pursue a modern and rich life,but to strive a proper balance between the development all around and the preservation of precious relices.
 
Current Situation in Western Areas
 
Western China is a multinational region with diverse cultures, which were formed according to the different natural and cultural environment of different nationalities.
  “Nearly eighty or ninety percent of young people of the western rural areas are working in cities and those that are left are mostly elderly or children.“[10]As such the cultural heritage is hard to protect and pass down between the generations. What’s worse, the younger generation loses interest in inheriting the culture and would rather work in cities for more money. Citizens as the spreaders and transmitters of the intangible cultural heritage are reluctant to pass down the heritage that add the difficulties.
   Taken from the side of the natural environment, the northwestern area faces severe problems: the disappearance of vegetation, the pollution of environment,the aggravation of soil erosion, the desertification of land, decrease of water and ice reserves and the damage of cultural spots.Furthermore, more and more folk customs are being eroded today since most of them are thought to be superstitious, however, these so-called superstitious folk customs play an important role in protecting forests, lakes and rivers and even wild animals. Many folk cultures are actually a combination of human’s experiences with nature and the wisdom of ancestors.
    As for the cultural environment, the agricultural civilization accompanied by the traditional and handmade technical pattern is being replaced by industrial civilization combined with electric and mechanical technical modes where a lot of western rural areas have built roads and set up electrical wares. With [...]

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