Research on Public Participation in Recording Intangible Cultural Heritage in Rural Area

Abstract

Being an important part of cultural heritage, intangible cultural heritage (hereinafter referred to as “ICH”) needs to be passed down from generation to generation. Seemed as the gene of national cultures, ICH is very important for the development and prosperity of human culture, for the development of social economy and civilization, and for the identity of individuals and ethnic groups. Since the publication of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003, ICH safeguarding activities have been fully implemented throughout the world. Recording ICH is a basic and important way to safeguard ICH, this way plays an important role and has been widely approved throughout China and other countries. It has been applied in many ICH item safeguarding, such as Nanjing Yunjin, Qinhuai Lantern Festival. As we all know, ICH resources are very rich in China. There are 39 ICH items have been listed in “ the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”, 1,372 ICH items have been listed in “the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in China”. There are a large number of famous and not famous ICH items scattered in urban areas. To record so many ICH resources, it is not enough to rely on the power of the government. As the creator and inheritor of ICH, the public should play an important role in the safeguarding activities. Attracting the public to participate is a prerequisite of ICH safeguarding. Through questionnaires, interviews and other research methods, this paper introduces the public’s awareness and attitude about recording ICH, and their ability and willingness to participate in ICH safeguarding activities. Based on the current status, It analyzes the advantages of public participation in the protection of ICH , and the disadvantages, opportunities and threats are also analyzed. Based on the international principle of “government-led, public participation”, this paper proposes to construct a “folk-government” model to optimize the quality of recording ICH. To ensure the quality of public participation, it further points out that some measures should be taken, such as strengthen the government leadership to provide necessary support, identifying their advantages and responsibilities of different participants to joint, expanding the participation content and diversifying the participation method. These measures are all aimed at promotion the safeguarding and inheriting the ICH.