China invests 236 mln yuan in protecting intangible cultural heritage
6/3/2008 16:49
China has invested a total of 236 million yuan (about US$32 million) over
the last five years in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, the culture
ministry said.
The Ministry of Culture said in a report posted on its
official website that it has been increasing spending on intangible cultural
heritage protection since 2003.
The ministry allocated a special fund of six
million yuan for intangible cultural heritage protection in 2003. The funding
rose to 20 million yuan in 2004, and reached 90 million yuan last year.
Kunqu
Opera alone, a 500-year-old "masterpiece" of Oral and Intangible Heritage of
Humanity listed by UNESCO in 2001 for its graceful movements and poetic lyrics,
received a total of 50 million yuan in subsidies.
China is home to four items
listed by UNESCO as world intangible cultural heritage: the Kunqu Opera; the
3,000-year-old guqin seven-string zither; the Twelve Mukams, a 12-part suite of
ancient Uygur music; and the Pastoral Song sung by a Mongolian ethnic
group.
The country established an national "Cultural Heritage Day" to be
celebrated annually on the second Saturday of June, to encourage public
awareness of cultural heritage protection.
It announced its first list of 518
state-level intangible cultural heritage items, including the Spring Festival,
Peking Opera, acupuncture, and Shaolin Kungfu, in 2006.
Xinhua
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