During its early appearance, this dance that’s full of courtesy and gentleness originated from the palace, performed during festivities at the palace and among the nobles only. In due course this dance was brought out of the palace and performed to the public. During dancing the dancers sway their bodies and move their hands as well as heads parallel to the beating of the hand-held drum, the ‘rebana’. They dance while sitting down on their knees without standing up. The musicians beat the ‘rebana’ while chanting or singing religious songs.

Kazakh Kuresi represents ancient form and style of Kazakh traditional wrestling, essential element of all festive events, celebrations and integral part of modern Kazakhstani national identity. Since ancient times, the beauty of this sports and strength of the hero-wrestlers “Baluans” have been reflected in folk epics, fairy legends, Kazakh literature like the poem of Iliyas Zhansugurov “Kulager” and Gabit Musrepov’s novel “Ulpan”, and archaeological findings.\nWrestling of two opponents is performed on 12m.x 12m. sized mat. The opponents are matched according to their weight category ranging from 60 kg and above 90 kg. All techniques are performed above the waist – wrestlers must fight on foot, making it more difficult. Wrestling on the ground is prohibited. The purpose is to lay the opponent on shoulders. Duration of the match is 5 minutes with extra time of 3 minutes which is offered in case of even number of points.\nEvaluation of matches is counted by: a) “Buk” – if the opponent touches the mat with abdomen, knee or both knees; b) “Zhambas” is given for three “Buks” or when the opponent touches the mat with one side of pelvis or both; b) “Zhartylay zhenis” is awarded for the technique when the opponent touches the mat with both shoulders.

The Keun Taepyeongmu is a version of the Taepyeongmu, rearranged as a mass dance. Taepyeongmu is a court dance depicting the King and Queen dancing to pray for peace and prosperity in the nation. It is thought to have been created in the early 20th century by Han Seong-jun, the father of modern Korean dance, based on the shamanic music and dance of the danggut rituals from Gyeonggi Province.\n\nTaepyeongmu is visually impressive, with elaborate and grand costumes influenced by court dances. The movements are full of energy, and set to complex and precise rhythms. The steps feature techniques such as gyeob georeum, jan georeum, raising the knee, and heel stomping and raising, timed to the changing rhythms, which are mesmerizing yet restrained. The highly technical steps are unique to this dance and give it its unmistakable style.\n\nCharacteristics:\n∙ 20th century adaptation of a shamanic dance performed at danggut rituals\n\nPerformed by Mongolian National Song and Dance Academic Ensemble\nDirected by Kim, Mi-Sook

The Keun Taepyeongmu is a version of the Taepyeongmu, rearranged as a mass dance. Taepyeongmu is a court dance depicting the King and Queen dancing to pray for peace and prosperity in the nation. It is thought to have been created in the early 20th century by Han Seong-jun, the father of modern Korean dance, based on the shamanic music and dance of the danggut rituals from Gyeonggi Province.\n\nTaepyeongmu is visually impressive, with elaborate and grand costumes influenced by court dances. The movements are full of energy, and set to complex and precise rhythms. The steps feature techniques such as gyeob georeum, jan georeum, raising the knee, and heel stomping and raising, timed to the changing rhythms, which are mesmerizing yet restrained. The highly technical steps are unique to this dance and give it its unmistakable style.\n\nCharacteristics:\n∙ 20th century adaptation of a shamanic dance performed at danggut rituals\n\nPerformed by Mongolian National Song and Dance Academic Ensemble\nDirected by Kim, Mi-Sook

The Keun Taepyeongmu is a version of the Taepyeongmu, rearranged as a mass dance. Taepyeongmu is a court dance depicting the King and Queen dancing to pray for peace and prosperity in the nation. It is thought to have been created in the early 20th century by Han Seong-jun, the father of modern Korean dance, based on the shamanic music and dance of the danggut rituals from Gyeonggi Province.\n\nTaepyeongmu is visually impressive, with elaborate and grand costumes influenced by court dances. The movements are full of energy, and set to complex and precise rhythms. The steps feature techniques such as gyeob georeum, jan georeum, raising the knee, and heel stomping and raising, timed to the changing rhythms, which are mesmerizing yet restrained. The highly technical steps are unique to this dance and give it its unmistakable style.\n\nCharacteristics:\n∙ 20th century adaptation of a shamanic dance performed at danggut rituals\n\nPerformed by Mongolian National Song and Dance Academic Ensemble\nDirected by Kim, Mi-Sook

Although the boot making craft (Lhamzo) is quite old in Bhutan, its origin is difficult to trace. The traditional knee length boots are made from leather using threads made from yak hair. Today, the boots are made of both leather and cloth, which is hand stitched (lagtshem) and embroidered with colourful patterns. The traditional boots come in different colour patterns to denote the ranks of officials. It is mostly worn during the official functions. This dying art has now been revived with the government’s prerequisite for all the officials having to wear tsho lham when attending official functions.\n\nBhutan’s traditional footwear is a kind of boot worn as high as the knee, the upper, cloth part of which is then held and tied by a narrow strap below the knee. Dra-lham, thru-lham karchung and tshoglham are three different types of traditional footwear and form an important part of Bhutanese national costume. Dra-lham are worn by the senior monks in the monasteries. They are similar to tshoglham but red in colour. Thru-lham karchung derives its name from the white colour of the ben (section just above the ankle) which is highly visible from a distance. The traditional boot worn by the general public is called tshoglham. \n\nThe thil or sole of the boot used to be made from hard leather, but these days tshoglham usually have rubber soles. Above the sole, two layers of red and white leather (or rubber) make the drilden. Above the drilden is the ri karchu, on which comes the ben in different colours. The ben, is yellow, orange, red, blue or green according to the official position of the wearer. Yellow ben is reserved only for the king and the head abbot (the Je Khenpo); orange is for ministers, red is for senior officials, blue is for members of parliament (both houses) and green is for the general public. The cloth part above the ben is generally black or blue silk brocade. \nIt is mandatory to wear thru-lham or tshoglham as a part of formal national dress during any formal occasions.\n

The traditional musical instruments of Myanmar were prominent throughout the nation’s history. The instruments were developed as early as the Pyu Era, Bagan Era and many were dominant features of music during the Innwa Era and Konbaung Era.\n\nWhile some of these instruments have been preserved and are used today, others have been lost to history.\nIn an attempt to preserve the traditional musical instruments of Myanmar, the Ministry of Culture displayed traditional instruments and distributed the books about the instruments during an exhibition in 1955. This research shows thirty-three kinds of instruments. Moreover, in a 2003 celebration of traditional instruments, the Ministry of Culture exhibited over two hundred traditional instruments at the national museum.\nWhile the instruments on display were representative of many regions and states, many instruments were not included.\nBecause of this lack of full representativeness, additional research through field studies is required. This project proposal addresses this need.\n\nTo create a preliminary basis towards developing a national ICH inventory of craftsmanship and performing arts of traditional musical instruments in Myanmar. To safeguard ICH related to the craftsmanship and performing arts of traditional musical instruments and to promote cultural diversity among multi- ethnic groups in Myanmar. To raise awareness of the Myanmar public on the importance of ICH. To expand networking and information sharing between Myanmar and Korea.

Although the boot making craft (Lhamzo) is quite old in Bhutan, its origin is difficult to trace. The traditional knee length boots are made from leather using threads made from yak hair. Today, the boots are made of both leather and cloth, which is hand stitched (lagtshem) and embroidered with colourful patterns. The traditional boots come in different colour patterns to denote the ranks of officials. It is mostly worn during the official functions. This dying art has now been revived with the government’s prerequisite for all the officials having to wear tsho lham when attending official functions.\n\nBhutan’s traditional footwear is a kind of boot worn as high as the knee, the upper, cloth part of which is then held and tied by a narrow strap below the knee. Dra-lham, thru-lham karchung and tshoglham are three different types of traditional footwear and form an important part of Bhutanese national costume. Dra-lham are worn by the senior monks in the monasteries. They are similar to tshoglham but red in colour. Thru-lham karchung derives its name from the white colour of the ben (section just above the ankle) which is highly visible from a distance. The traditional boot worn by the general public is called tshoglham. \n\nThe thil or sole of the boot used to be made from hard leather, but these days tshoglham usually have rubber soles. Above the sole, two layers of red and white leather (or rubber) make the drilden. Above the drilden is the ri karchu, on which comes the ben in different colours. The ben, is yellow, orange, red, blue or green according to the official position of the wearer. Yellow ben is reserved only for the king and the head abbot (the Je Khenpo); orange is for ministers, red is for senior officials, blue is for members of parliament (both houses) and green is for the general public. The cloth part above the ben is generally black or blue silk brocade. \nIt is mandatory to wear thru-lham or tshoglham as a part of formal national dress during any formal occasions.\n

Together with the UNESCO National Commissions in the Central Asia, the Seventh Central Asi Sub-regional Meeting on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage was held between 16 and 18 May at Dushanbe, Tajikistan.\n\nThe report includes papers of the thematic symposium on Sacred Cultural Spaces, Safeguarding ICH and Enhancing Identity and country reports.

As part of the Cultural Partnership Initiative of 2019, ICHCAP invited ICH professionals from Vietnam, Timor-Leste, Kazakhstan, Nepal and Indonesia. This publication is a collection of the research reports of 2019 CPI participants. The participants selected their own topic and conducted researches based on their various activities during their five-month stay in Korea.

The implementation of the Mongolia?ICHCAP Joint Project of “ICH Documentation Workshop and Pilot Filming” in Mongolia has been carried out from May to August, in 2013, with collaborative efforts of UNESCO Accredited NGO in Mongolia ? Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage (FPNCH) and International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (ICHCAP).\n\nThis Joint Project has been initiated with regards to the i) lack of capacity in Mongolia in the professional experiences and expertise of ICH audio-visual documentation and production of films and documentaries utilizing the latest technologies and methodologies, and involvement of documentation experts and ICH experts to work together, and ii) based on the results of and the continuation of the joint efforts to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage, efforts which took place between 2009 and 2012, with aims to improve the legal system to safeguard ICH, to safeguard, restore and digitalize the ICH using modern technologies.\n\nThe ICH Documentation Workshop and Pilot filming exercises aimed at:\n\n- to conduct a Workshop with regards to share experiences and information on ICH Safeguarding through ICH documentation and dissemination in Mongolia and Korea;\n- to improve capacity of Mongolia, its personnel by applying the professional methodologies and techniques discussed through the Workshop meeting and Pilot filming;\n- to practice the Mongolian and Korean collaborative Pilot filming exercises; and\n- to gain expertise and strengthen capacity building at a practical level for ICH documentation in Mongolia, and to identify future challenges and collaboration.

This book introduces the tug-of-war traditions of Korea and the three Southeast Asian countries mentioned as well as the tugging traditions passed down in Japan, Thailand, and Ukraine. The book presents studies showing various conditions and perceptions of tug-of-war in each country. So, it will be valuable research material for those interested in tug-of-war.