Nomadic way of life of the Kyrgyz and natural conditions they have lived in had their impact on formation of traditional system of knowledge, social and economic practices of livelihood directed at resect for nature and surrounding world. Traditional knowledge on cattle breeding and pasturing are based on ancient practices and measures on sustainable use of lands, soil, and vegetation for sustenance of the population. They consist of knowledge on movements of livestock, peculiarities of pasturing, soil remediation, re-vegetation, forage conservation and disposal of feeding stuffs, and peculiarities related to veterinary and care of the livestock.

A cattle breeding is one of the ancient activities dealt by Uzbeks. It is the dominant animal husbandry industry specializing in breeding cattle for milk, beef, leather raw materials, as well as as a traction force. Even the holy book of Zoroastrianism, “Avesta”, calls upon careful attitude towards cattle, in particular, in relation to horses, bovine animals, sheep and goats. A cattle breeding was one of the main activities in mountainous, submontane and steppe areas of Uzbekistan. The essence of traditions, knowledge and skills related to cattle breeding and goals pursued by them, were always the same - they were aimed at breeding animals, protecting them from various diseases, predators and thieves, preventing their loss, etc.

Thai society in its way of life as well as in the commodities of its trade has been an agricultural one since in the ancient times. As a consequence of centuries of practice, farmers and orchardists have developed localized forms of wisdom and know-how on the cultivation of a variety of crops. A crucial element of this know-how lies in the mastery of irrigation methods used to maximize the productivity of the fields and orchards. The management of the water supplied by the Chaophraya river and the strong seasonal rainfalls was crucial to convert the plentiful sunlight provided by the tropical climate into rich harvests. Among the techniques that the farmers and orchardists developed, the most important way in which the flow of the Chaophraya’s nutrient-rich water to the fields was regulated was by the digging of irrigation ditches. The traditional ditch that was used most widely had its origin in southern China, from where significant numbers of Chinese immigrated to Siam during the Ayutthaya period. This technique can be used both as a way to prepare soil for cultivation and to sustainably regulate water supply to the plants. In the particular case of Bangkok, with its proximity to the sea, it is also a water management process through which the gardener can maintain the balance between fresh water, salt water and brackish water. The gardener will work to regulate the proportions of these three sources of water within their garden by purposefully designing the ditch channels without harming their crops. The wisdom behind the raised garden with a ditch and dike system consists of many small connecting canals dug by the farmers within the turf soil to fertilize the trees. The trees are planted in an elevated plot to prevent flooding during the rainy season. This knowledge of making high-ridge agricultural plots where the soil is dug in lanes is called “Oak Rong” and “Thong Rong”. Besides, the gardens’ water systems were connected to rivers and streams of the public water system.

Having originated in bhani, a type of drama, mentioned in at least 10th century inscriptions of Cambodia, Lkhon Khol today is performed by males, wearing masks with the accompaniment of pin peat, a traditional orchestra, and melodious recitation. It performs only episodes from Reamker, a Cambodian version of the Indian Ramayana. Lkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet is distinct from the generic form because its specific aim is to propitiate Neak Ta (guardian spirits of a place and its people; in this case the community of Wat Svay Andet), and in so doing, protect and make prosperous the community, its lands and harvest. When Lkhon Khol is performed especially during a fixed date after the New Year, spirit mediums are presented to facilitate interaction between the Neak Ta, performers and villagers. Spirit mediums, who predict the situation for the upcoming year, attend the performance and become possessed by the Neak Ta and then might get on the stage. When the spirits are satisfied by the performance, villagers are blessed by them, and if not, dancers will stop; the music continues; and the audience will fall silent and carefully listen to the spirits. Then the episode must be performed again. nIn Wat Svay Andet, Lkhon Khol has such spiritual significance in the community that some Reamker characters have become local deities in themselves. For example, on the campus of the monastery, a shrine for Hanuman (Monkey General) locally called Lok Ta Kamheng is built and venerated. The mask for Tos Mok (Ravana, King of the Demons) also lives and is venerated in a spirit house at the home of the family that has danced that role for several generations. In addition to the intrinsic specificity of the Wat Svay Andet form, some external differences are noted, such as the fact that three of the key roles are not masked. In fact their faces are painted white, indicating that they are neither mortals nor gods. The costumes, which are very refined with magnificent embroidery, are also different especially from those of the Battambang Troupe. Melodies for recitations are also different and richer. nLkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet is not performed by professional artists, but by the villagers themselves, and they do not perform for money but for merits and their community’s well-being. Everyone in the community is obliged to contribute, either by direct participation in the performance or by sharing support, e.g. financial or labor. Even villagers, who have migrated for work, tend to come back for the ritual and believe that if they don’t come, they could be struck by illness or bad luck.

Cambodia 2018

As a form of performing arts, Xoan singing includes singing, dancing, drumming and clapper beating. It is closely attached to the Worship of the Hùng Kings, founders of the country. Phú Thọ people created Xoan singing and performed it at the village communal houses, temples and shrines worshipping the Hùng Kings in springs. “Xoan” means “spring”. Bearers and practitioners form four guilds, in which the male and female Trum play the most important role; they preserve the songs, select students, transmit the singing styles and repertoires and organize practices. They are also active in introducing and teaching Xoan singing at the four Xoan guilds, and in clubs and guilds. A full Xoan performance cycle includes 3 phases: Worship singing (Hát thờ) with songs praising the virtues of the Hùng Kings and the village guardian deities; Invocation for good health and fortune (Quả cách) with 14 repertoires praising nature, humankind, and the daily life of the community; Festive singing (hát Hội) with songs featuring the couple love. The special characteristic of Xoan is the modulation between singers and instrumentalists at the perfect fourth interval, and it has a simple structure with few ornamental notes. Xoan dance's movements have a sense of imitativeness, illustrating people's daily life activities. After singing at their communal houses from the 2nd - 5th day of the Lunar New Year, the Xoan guilds travel to other communities venerating Hùng Kings to take part in convivial cultural exchanges. Xoan practitioners are organized into music guilds called Phường. The Leader of each guild is called “Trùm”. In the past, only men could be “Trùm”, but nowadays women could also be leaders. The Leaders are in charge of transmission and organization of activities of the guilds. At present, each guild comprises of 30 - 100 members. Men are called “kép”, women are “đào”. As a community performing art, Xoan singing fosters cultural understanding, community cohesion and mutual respect. The Vietnamese Institute for Musicology has collected 31 Xoan songs, and thanks to the efforts of several Xoan artists four guilds have been established. 33 dedicated clubs also exist, and seminars are held to expand knowledge of Xoan.

Viet Nam 2017

Inscribed in 2011 (6.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Taekkyeon is a traditional Korean martial art that makes use of fluid, rhythmic dance-like movements to strike or trip up an opponent. The fluid and curvy movements, wriggling and writhing slowly, would evoke laughter. Some may even wonder whether it is a dance or a martial art. But the inherent energy of the performer can explode with enormous flexibility and strength. Apparently static and dignified but fundamentally dynamic and even fatal, taekkyeon is an indigenous Korean martial art with a history stretching back thousands of years. Taekkyeon is a rare martial art in that it teaches consideration for the opponent to the very moment one gains control. It teaches more skills for defense than offense. A skilled taekkyeon practitioner can rapidly dominate the opponent with a smooth wavy motion, but a true master knows how to make the opponent withdraw without incurring damage. These are unthinkable concepts in a combat sport. But taekkyeon makes all these possible. Taekkyeon is a marvelous sport teaching how to consider the opponent more than oneself, and the group instead of individuals. The motions are gentle and circular rather than straight and rigid, but they have the power to entice the performer slowly but intensively. The graceful movements of a well-trained taekkyeon performer resemble those of a crane, but the elastic offensive skills can be as speedy and powerful as those of a hawk. Taekkyeon has a few distinctive characteristics. First, it is an outwardly gentle but inwardly tough martial art featuring circular motions. Second, it is a natural and spontaneous martial art stressing elegance and dignity. Third, it is a practical and comprehensive martial art harmonizing offense and defense through various locking and kicking techniques. In spite of its gentle impression, taekkyeon is an effective martial art highlighting a broad variety of offensive and defensive skills employing all available fighting methods. The origin of all traditional Korean martial arts, taekkyeon represents confluence and totality, the two outstanding characteristics of Korean culture. Taekkyeon is believed to have been practiced since before the Three Kingdoms period (57 B.C. - A.D. 676). In Joseon (1392-1910), it was practiced among a broader public, including people at the grassroots. The basic spirit of taekkyeon is ‘truth’. The martial art inherits the thought of Joseon scholars who considered upholding integrity and obeying the rules of nature was the utmost virtue. Currently, the Korean Taekkyeon Association is playing a significant role in the transmission and promotion of this traditional martial art. 85 education centres spreading across the country are the main venue for taekkyeon practitioners. Ordinary Koreans have an easy access to the practice of taekkyeon thanks to those education centres.

South Korea 2011

Inscribed in 2014 (9.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Nongak is a fusion performing art genre that combines a percussion ensemble (with occasional use of wind instruments), parading, dancing, drama, and acrobatic feats. It has been practiced for various purposes, such as appeasing gods, chasing evil spirits and seeking blessings, praying for a rich harvest in spring, celebrating the harvest at autumn festivals, fund-raising for community projects, and professional entertainment. Any joyful community event was never complete without uproarious music and dance performed by the local band clad in colorful costumes. The resultant ecstatic excitement (sinmyeong) is often defined as a preeminent emotional characteristic of Korean people. The music frequently uses uneven beats of complex structures like simple three-time, compound time, and simple and compound time. Small hand-held gongs and hourglass drums, with their metal and leather sounds, play the main beats, while large gongs and barrel drums create simple rhythmic accents. The small hand-held drum players focus more on dancing than playing music. Dancing includes individual skill demonstrations, choreographic formations, and streamer dances. Actors wearing masks and peculiar outfits perform funny skits. Acrobatics include dish spinning and miming antics by child dancers carried on the shoulders of adult performers. Nongak was most often performed and enjoyed by grassroots people, but there were also professional groups putting on entertainment shows. In recent years, professional repertoires have evolved into the percussion quartet “Samul Nori” and the non-verbal theatrical show “Nanta,” dramatically emphasizing the music element and thereby appealing to broader audiences at home and from abroad.

South Korea 2014

Hua’er has been one of performing arts of folk songs in Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia of China for over 600 years long since Ming dynasty. Hua’er is a folk song created by nine ethnic groups, such as Han, Hui, Tibetan, Tu, Mongol, Dongxiang, Salar, Bonan, Yugur, and each nationality shares it with others. It is an important artistic form of cultural exchange, emotional communication among nationalities, which is only folk song of its kind created and performed by multi-nationalities in China. Hua’er’s music has been drawn its inspiration from ethnic and traditional music, it has more than 100 tunes. Their titles are called so-and-so ling, just according to the names of nationality, town or flower, such as Dongxiang ling, Tu People ling, Hezhou ling, White Peony ling etc. Hua’er’s music is based on five notes of pentatonic scale, high in tune, wide in range, free rhyme and rich expression. The libretto of Hua’er is improvised by folk singers under a certain formula, each has 3,4,5 or 6 lines, each line consists of 7 characters, it has their own metre. Its content involves daily life of farmer, and richer in love. The forms of performance of Hua’er could be solo, duet, and group competition. More than 100 traditional Hua’er folk festivals are held in Gansu and Qinghai once a year with their own time and venues, which is important place to show folk singers talents. Hua’er, as folk song of local nationalities handed down from one generation to another, is an important tool to express people’s mind and feelings with unique social function and cultural function. “Singing my dresses, singing happiness in my heart”, “one song after another, the more songs I sing and the younger I am”, these librettos play a role to shake off their weariness and depression in the heart of singers. “Singing one by one, just for my sweetheart”, these show Hua’er is a tool of love between young man and young woman. Folk singers are low educated farmers and herdsmen, they are practitioners of Hua’er, and also spokesmen of common people. Their improvisation and performance play a part of “time mirror” with expression of the people’s voice. For instance, “Wife’s having hair dyed, daughter wants her hair in a bob, mama is having hair permed, all wants to follow the fashion, and I will pay for that.” This Hua’er says the huge change and pleased heart of farmers’ life in countryside of the northwest of China, this is also vivid oral record of social progress in China. For the reason that Hua’er Folk Festival in Gansu and Qinghai has been included into the list of China Intangible Cultural Heritage, a large number of excellent singers were put into representative list of China Intangible Cultural Heritage Practitioner, this drew much attention to Hua’er, and increased the sense of Hua’er identity and continuity. The folk singers and persons in charge of cultural communities and cultural centers realized the importance of protecting Hua’er.

China 2009

Acknowledgment of the role of a horse is expressed in traditional horse equipment, which is divided into protective equipment and items that provide comfortable and safe position of the rider. Significant attention was also paid to an artistic decoration of details. Items of the horse equipment are made of metal, leather and wood, and decorated with stylized plant and animal motifs. Soft types of wood are used to make a saddle. Pine, poplar and beech timber possess suppleness; they do not crack or break easily. Peculiarity of the Kyrgyz saddle is a long front pommel (kash). This detail serves to tie the bridle. A good saddle is necessarily covered with leather and decorated. Stirrups for saddle can be made of leather or metal. Horse girth represents a wide durable leather belt. Metallic parts of the harness are also richly decorated. Kamchy (horsewhip) is composed of elegant handle and whip made of tightly intertwined leather.

Jhug dho-ma is a traditional song sung at Riserboo-Kheshing Chiwog, Kheshing village under Lumang Gewog (block), Wamrong Trashigang. Lopen (Spiritual master) Dorji Wangdi and lopen Dorji Namgay first composed the song in around 1964. The song was composed during the time when people had to contribute labour contribution while constructing road from Samdrupjongkhar to Trashigang Dzongkhag (district). Because of the lack of paved roads, travel in Bhutan was by foot or on mule- or horseback until 1961; the 205-kilometre trip from the Indian border to Thimphu took six days. Road construction began in earnest during the First Development Plan (1961–66). The first 175-kilometre-long paved road was completed in 1962. About 30,000 Indian and Nepalese labourers were imported to build the road with Indian aid when India was bolstering its defense against a potential Chinese invasion. Bhutan also provided labour for the construction work. Another road was built to connect Trashigang with Samdrupjongkhar. About 1,500 kilometers of roads were built by the mid-1970s, largely with manual labour. Every household must compulsorily contribute labour for two weeks. The lyric of the song encompasses the journey from Samdrupjongkhar until Wamrong. It conveys us the settings of different villages on the way while constructing the road.

Bhutan, embodied with rich and unique culture heritage has largely remained intact for centuries because of its unique way of preserving its culture and tradition over the generation and of course being isolated from the rest of the world. Rukubji, a geopolitically located snake head village under Sephu Gewog (block) in the premises of Wangduephodrang Dzongkhag (district) celebrates Lochu. Lochu is the native sacred festival were offering for the wellbeing of locality led by Phajo (local shaman) with 25 Pazab (soldiers or guard) particularly performed. Lochu is said to be sacred performance initiated in around mid of 10th and 11th century after Zhabdrung Tshenden Dhelwa subdued the demonic forces and made into local deity (Phola) of the place. The villagers do a grand offering to the local deity to bring peace and happiness. In the past a sheep is slaughtered and made offering to the local deity. In recent times, the bonisim culture was being stopped and alternative offerings like forelegs/hindleg and ……. of a cow are done to appease the protector. Zhabdrung Tsenden Dhelwa was born in Tibet. It was around in mid of 10th and 11th century where Zhabdrung Tsenden Dhelwa visited the place. The place was not blessed by any other Lamas and it is said that first lama to visit in the region was Zhabdrung Tsenden Dhelwa where he subdued many demons and sanctified the place. Lochu was conducted consecutively every 3 years. It is believed that, failing to perform the offerings would bring bad luck, natural calamities such as flood (happened some 7-8 years ago) and the harvest of any crop (potato being the main cash crop of the locality) would be befallen. It is also believed to be said that the local deity, in order to bless the community with peace and happiness, an old man is always assigned to offer prayers to local deity (Phola) to bring peace and prosperity in the community. It so happened that one day the old man knew that due to his old age, worried that he wouldn’t be able to render his service in offering to Phola thereafter. Legends are being past that the local deity appeared before him and enlightened him with wisdoms. The old man, upon this wisdom advised his communities to conduct the Lochu on 5th or 6th day of every twelfth lunar month of the third year. Thereon, the festival is being celebrated in winters of every third year. Far and near community witnesses this festival and the locality celebrates grandeur day with feast and ceremony. It is said that in the olden days lochu is annually conducted on the 5th or 6th day of the twelfth lunar month. However, as time passes the communities could not conducted annually and made to conduct in every 3 years. Alternatively, if the locality couldn’t celebrate this occasion, the community comes together annually and recites Kangyuar (translated words of buddha) to bring good luck in community. As the time passes by, the community face problems like, finding Phajo (Shaman) since it is said that the way of offering is different. A man from every household was mandatory in the past for Pazab. As the time passes, 25 Pazab are required for the day which are mostly performed voluntarily. The community fears that the next celebration wouldn’t happen as there is no Phajo for the day. The previous one is unable to perform due to his illness.

Kolok-pa is the game played in the Thongsa locality. The name of the game is directly derived from the name given to the element. Such game can play in any number of people more than two; it can be played in even numbers only like, two, four, six, eight and ten. According to the local elders the exact date of which the game is been played is not known. However, the game is usually played in the winter seasons, as it is the end of fruitful tiring journey of the year to the villagers as mostly the field are left uncultivated and people do not have works to carry on in the field. The people usually played for fun and for enjoyment by keeping simple bet. Kolok-pa game does not differentiate the gender and age of the player, such game can be played by mixing gender, nevertheless the players opt to play gender wise only, in order to have balance and competitive competition. According to 65 years old Meme Ugyen Guru, the game in the past can be played by burning bamboos and pinewoods for lighting the ground in the evenings. Mostly the betting they used to keep are for Bangchang, Ara (Local wine), pork and eating and drinking. The winner of the match is declare based on mutual understanding made within the players, either to pay bet after every game or out of three sets. According to the local present during our study, they asserted that Kolok-pa game is still playing; however, they share their concern that such game is slowly declining due to the change of times and due to the modernization. Aum Nim Gyalmo shared that nowadays due to the digital games and other available of entertainment, youth are found with least interest to play such age old game, where their interest are driven to digital.