The Theory And Practice Of Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection

Cheshos sdeba is a multi-ethnic community where Tibetan and Chinese Han people are major occupants,and a small group of Hui people also populate there.Located in Gonghe Town,Huangzhong County,it belongs to a transitory area among Tibetan,Han,and other cultures,in which the special historical culture and geographical environment have generated old and diverse cultural heritages.Since 1980 s,however,these inheritances had been endangered and on the verge of distinction.In 2004,initiated and directed by an anthropologist,local people in this area held a traditional village sporting games,which successfully started the campaign of re-introducing and protecting local traditions,and of building an appealing village for local residents to live.From then on,many festivals have been held,and this campaign have become a �cultural brand� on Tibetan Plateau in building harmonious rural community and cultural protection.This thesis takes the Village Games Festival as a subject,probing into the theory and practice of cultural heritage protection from an anthropological and ethnological perspective,aim ing at enriching the field work material of cultural herit age protection in PRC,and hopefully at shedding some light on the experience of cultural preservation work.The thesis is divided into three sections.The first section is the introduction and background analys is,while the former part introduces why this topic was chosen and the literature review,and the latter gives an overview on the natural and cultural environment,history,languages,religions and so on of Cheshos sdeba.The second part employs the theory of cultural change,combining historical materials and the fieldwork on this region and Village Games,and compares the conditions of three different periods: before mid-18 th century to 1980,from 1980 to 2003,and from 2004 up to now,to show the dynamic advance of Cheshos sdeba and the significance of traditional cultural preservation on the development of a village and even on that of a region.The third part describes thickly about the village games to illustrate how traditions are rejuvenated and preserved through these activit ies.In addition,other succeeding campaigns on protecting local traditions of surrounding areas of Cheshos sdeba are also presented and analyzed.The conclusion mainly covers two aspects.Firstly,analyzing from ethological and anthropological aspects,this sports meeting is a constructed �ritual�,a collective response from anthropologists and local residents by taking part in guided cultural movements,at a time when their tradit ional culture is undergoing drastic change.Ethnic memories serve as a valuable social resource,and this festival provides a place for senior members of this community to recall those memories and for young members to learn.This is where folk memory,memorial ceremonies and physical practice are combined together.Holding these games repetitively and regularly allows the folk memories to be rejuvenated and continued,and the cultural heritage behind those memories to be preserved and inherited.The exhibit ion of various cultural elements,especially those related to Tibetan culture,indicating that local people are intentionally trying to strengthen their ethnic community and identity.The games festival is an exhibit ion of social order,and as a result they have positive influence on local social environment and order.What's more,from the aspect of cultural inheritance restoration,the �Tsongkha Mode�,with its prominent characteristics,has been proved to be an emerging,thriving and distinctive mode in protecting cultural heritage by its success and continuous inheritance,and can be used as a valuable reference in other protection activities in China and even all around the world.