Materials
spring
ICH Materials 252
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Navruz
Navruz is an ancient and widespread holiday in Tajikistan, and it is celebrated on the vernal equinox, the beginning of the solar year and the new year according to the Iranian calendar, as well as calendars of several other nationalities. Navruz traditionally celebrates the awakening of nature and the beginning of agricultural work.
Tajikistan -
Nooruz
The Nooruz holiday symbolizes the celebration of the New Year according to the solar calendar, on the vernal equinox (March 21). It marks the arrival of something new in people's lives, their hope for a happy and prosperous year. This is one of the most important holidays in Kyrgyzstan, bringing together everyone, regardless of age and ethnicity.
Kyrgyzstan -
Process of cooking sumolok
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Kyrgyzstan -
Terisakkan Spring Festival of Horse Breeders: Ritual Food
From the early morning, on round tables or just on the ground near tethered horses, the families serve a ritual food for regaling villagers and visitors. Presenting the images of ancestors, famous horse breeders, is a new tradition.
Kazakhstan
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Ancient Rites of Horse Breeders: Biey Bailau. Kumyz Murindik
Ulytau is the geographic and historical center of Kazakhstan where the Kazakh Khanate appeared. Central Kazakhstan is rich in historical monuments. The history and traditions of Kazakh horse breeders have been maintained since the Paleolithic times. The traditions include: biye baylau, separating dairy mares from the shoal or the feast of the first milking; ayghyr kosu, joining a stallion to the herd or the stallion’s wedding; and kymyz muryndyk, beginning to make and drink kymyz or festive of the first kymyz. Inextricably linked with one another, these traditions mark the beginning of a new horse-breeding cycle and form an integral part of Kazakh intangible cultural heritage.
Kazakhstan 2016-05-02 -
Kymyz—Traditional Beverage of the Kyrgyz People
Kymyz, a traditional Kyrgyz beverage, is made of fermented mare’s milk. It was first prepared and used by the nomadic tribes of Central Asia and Mongolia. The earliest found traces of kymyz are from Neolithic period (some 5,500 years ago). Found in the valley of Suusamyr other relics were goatskin leather bags with traces of mare’s milk, indicating the presence of kymyz.\n\nKymyz preparation was kept secret by nomads for centuries. The mare’s milk is stored in animal skins called chanach that were firstly cleaned and smoked over a fire with pine or other coniferous branches to give the drink its unique smell and taste.
Kyrgyzstan 2017 -
The Wonder Woman of Wood Painting highlight
Foshan Woodblock Painting is a kind of well-known folk woodblock paintings of South China. It is mainly produced in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, Consequently it was named Foshan Woodblock Painting.\nThere has been much important research on the history of Chinese New Year pictures, but there are still different opinions on how to rescue New Year pictures from the brink of disappearance and how to fit them into the modern life. As far as Liu Zhongping can see, the revival of New Year pictures is not something that can be achieved by making one or two field visits and publishing one or two articles, but something that needs to be acted out. That is to say, it is necessary to carry out social practice that help to activate traditional culture with a focus on inheritors rather than researchers.\nIn this regard, from the “Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritors’ Training Program” to the “Revitalization Program of Chinese Traditional Crafts” to the recent “New Year Pictures Back to Spring Festival”, some explorations and attempts have been made around the inheritance and innovation of New Year pictures. From inheritor’s study and training to holding exhibitions and cross-disciplinary dialogues, from developing experience-oriented craft courses to developing new products and expanding sales channels, under the guidance of the intangible heritage protection concepts of “Seeing People, Seeing Things, Seeing Life” and “Leading by Usage” in the new era, New Year pictures practitioners, local people and all stakeholders have gradually regained confidence in the revival of New Year pictures.\nThe first step is always the hardest. On top of a good start, further progress is needed. It’s imperative to know the sticky issues and difficulties and come up with targeted, creative and feasible solutions. As a practitioner, She takes the liberty of thinking about several key points in practice, offering advice and suggestions to practitioners and decision-makers, and hoping to contribute to the revival of New Year pictures. China has entered the twenty-first century. The social scenes that endow New Year pictures with meaning year after year have vanished. It is very difficult for us to ask people to change their house gates back to the old-fashioned style, and it is also very difficult for young people to observe the traditional festival customs. However, what we can do is not only to enshrine New Year pictures in museums, but also to keep pace with the times and find a place for New Year pictures in modern life.\nThrough her effort and hardwork, she focuses on the innovation of Foshan Woodblock Painting and meets the needs young people She updates some painitngs, such as the mobil phones shell, schoolbags, notebooks as well as painitng gift packs. By the resurrection of the gods through a number of newly designed derivatives,now the paitings are popular among the local people. And she believes her master's dream as well as hers of continuing and spreading the national intangible cultural heritages have been realized
China 2019 -
Nawrouz, Novruz, Nowrouz, Nowrouz, Nawrouz, Nauryz, Nooruz, Nowruz, Navruz, Nevruz, Nowruz, Navruz
It is the New Year by solar calendar in Central, South and South-West Asia countries. According to sources, Navruz was one of the biggest festivities among Iranian and Turkic peoples. Mahmud al-Kashgari in his work called "Diwanu l-Lugat al-Turk" mentions about many folk songs, which were dedicated to Navruz. Also, the information about Navruz festivity can be found in such works as "The remaining traces of past centuries" (written by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni), "Navruzname" (by Omar Khayyam), and those written by Alisher Navoi, Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Babur and other scholars. \nIn the territory of Central Asia Navruz festivity was associated with the beginning of the New Year. As such, the preparations for it began several days ahead. Wheat was germinated and from its sprouts sumalak was cooked, dumplings with greens and samosas with mint were prepared. Also folk games were organized (such as horseracing, uloq, kurash, etc.), promenades were arranged, songs about spring were sung, terma and dostons were performed (by bakhshis). On the first day of Navruz children, living in rural areas, gathered in groups and sang songs dedicated to Navruz before the doors of houses. And the owner of the house, hearing these songs, came out, gave presents to children, and treated them with food. In their turn, children distributed one part of the food among widows and orphans living in the village. All these traditions and customs are still alive.
Afghanistan,Kyrgyzstan,Kazakhstan,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan
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Tứ đại cảnh (Instrumental ensemble)
It is a typical Ca Huế composition. It was composed by King Tự Đức (1848-1883) of the Nguyễn dynasty, based on a Quan họ song, called Khi tương phùng khi tương ngộ, to praise the scenery in spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Some people suppose that the lyrics praise the four kings of the Nguyễn dynasty—Gia Long, Minh Mạng, Triệu Trị, and Tự Đức. Tứ đại cảnh belongs to Nam tune, dựng nuance with opulent and sorrowful nuances, complaints, and self-blame.
Viet Nam 1998 -
Bārahmāh
This Bārahmāh or “twelve months song” depicts the singer as a gopi, or girlfriend of Krishna, who is yearning for Krishna, throughout the changing seasons. The song starts with Chaitra, the spring month of March/April. As the Brindavan landscape changes throughout the different months, the gopi tenderly remembers Krishna, who is now away in Mathura. Sung by a group led by Nirmada Upadhyay at a wedding of her relative in 1991, the song is inflected with Punjabi, a reminder that the Punjabi had a strong cultural influence in Kangra, which was an administrative district of Punjab until 1966. Recorded and collected by Kirin Narayan
India 1991 -
Meri Albela
This is a Baisakhi tharya. A tharya is a dance song, like a jhumelo. Baisakhi tharya are related to spring, and danced for enjoyment. Tharyas are also danced when a bride enters her new home for the first time. Recorded and collected by Ragini S. Deshpande
India 1982 -
Rali songs and explanation
This track about the Rali rituals and songs combines speech with singing. This is included as a particularly interesting way to present intangible cultural heritage. Subhadra Devi gives instructions, in Hindi, about why and how the goddess Rali is worshipped each spring. Rali is identified as a form of Parvati, with her husband Senkar a form of Shankar, in the annual spring ritual for unmarried girls to gain a good groom by celebrating the marriage of goddess Rali to Senkar, with her brother Bastu in attendance. Subhadra Devi describes the rituals and the appropriate songs in dialect. She begins with the song for gathering spring flowers and making garlands for Rali each morning. Then, she moves on to the song about assembling objects for rituals. She goes on to describe how observant girls fast over four Mondays and go from household to household singing in order to gather donations for their Rali ritual. She then offers an example of this sort of song, in which the theme of male migrant labor common in the hills spills into mythological domains here, with Rali’s brother Bastu off to Delhi, while Senkar has gone to work in Chamba, each offering to send her gifts. Subhadra Devi ends by singing an example of the sort of devotional song or bhajan sung by grown women at the auspicious ending of the Rali ritual, when the goddess is carried to a pool to be submerged. This song addresses the mulberry tree from whose wood a flute for Krishna might be made. It describes the unfinished fates of those who haven’t ever given alms, fasted on ritual days, constructed raised stands for wayfarers to rest under shady trees, or given daughters in marriage. Recorded and collected by Kirin Narayan
India 1982
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The Remarkable Revival of Vietnamese Xoan MusicIn just six years, an important element of intangible cultural heritage went from being an element in need of urgent safeguarding to being an active part of the lives of Vietnamese people. The Hat Xoan Phu Tho tradition, a distinctive call-and-response musical genre of Phu Tho Province in northern Vietnam, was inscribed on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2011, and as a result it became the focus of an extensive revitalization program to ensure its survival.\n\nA unique blend of song and dance performance, xoan originated in the upland region of Viet Tri in Phu Tho for the people to express the richness of their community lives. Some of the performances are to venerate ancient kings while others are expressions of the people’s skills and artistry or their knowledge of farming, fishing, hunting, weaving, and other rural crafts. xoan is considered the core and essence of the social and cultural identity of the villages of Phu Duc, Kim Dai, Thet, and An Thai.\n\nSince 2011, the state and local communities have been supporting a project to revitalize xoan. A series of creative collaborations between knowledgeable elder practitioners and a nucleus of over sixty younger artists have committed themselves to xoan practice and dissemination and have subsequently secured xoan transmission to future generations. Training classes are held monthly and weekly within the communities. An active set of xoan guilds with as many as a hundred members of three or even four generations of practitioner families are successfully recruiting new adherents.\n\nTo generate an audience for the genre, xoan has been introduced into the regional school curriculum as a reference point for teaching on issues of heritage and local history. Demonstration activities and social events outside the xoan communities, have attracted young people and increased their understanding and enjoyment of xoan.\n\nWithin the xoan communities, many of the temples and shrines used for performances had deteriorated because of war and time, becoming unusable. The state, however, has allocated priority funding to restore these performance areas. Through the government-funded program, community members are fully involved in the restoration and have been empowered to manage their own cultural spaces. On 28 March 2017, the country’s largest site for xoan practice was inaugurated in Kim Duc, a commune of Viet Tri. Legend has it that this space, within the Lai Len temple in Kim Duc, was the first site of xoan performance in Vietnam.\n\nThrough these unique programs, xoan communities have become vibrant places of practice and the transmission of xoan.\n\nPhoto : In marked contrast to the traditional past, Xoan is now widely performed by young practitioners © Le Thi Minh LyYear2017NationViet Nam
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Jeju Fire Festival Reenacts Old Pastoral TraditionsThe twenty-second Jeju Fire Festival will run for four days from 7 to 10 March 2019 at places across Jeju, including Jeju City Hall Square and Saebyeol Oreum in Aewol-eup.\n\nThis year, the festival has the theme “Light up the world with wildfire and dreams.” The first day will begin with a torch lighting ritual at Samseonghyeol. The torch will be conveyed along a route from Samseonghyeol to the KAL intersection, Gwangyang intersection, and Jeju City Hall Square. In addition to the torch ceremony, various events will be held at the city hall, including writing wishes on paper and a music concert.\n\nThe second day will see a number of programs taking place, including a prayer ritual for the prosperity and development of the Jeju city, a sheaf making contest, and diverse cultural and media art performances staged by delegates from other countries. There also will be a large full moon ceremony where visitors can wish upon the moon, which will be followed by putting the torch to a field, a torchlight parade, and a sheaf burning event.\n\nOn the third day, various traditional cultures of the island will attract visitors. One of them is majoje, a ritual of praying for the health of horses, which is representative of the pastoral culture of the island. Others include neokdungbegi, the traditional yutnori (board game) of Jeju, and deumdol-deulgi (stone lifting), a coming of age ceremony of the residents. A forum on how to develop the festival is scheduled as well. In addition, there will be a burning of a pig sheaf to hail the year of the pig according to the Chinese zodiac. Then, the oreum will be set alight, which is the highlight of the festival, to pray for good fortune in the new year.\n\nEven during the 1970s, farming households in Jeju raised a couple of cows to plow the land and carry the harvest from the fields to their homes or village market. In the off-season, farmers in each town took turns to manage the fields for their livestock. They set the pastures alight to get rid of old grass and harmful pests between late winter and early spring, so their livestock could graze fresh quality grass. The fields were set alight all over the hilly areas, and it created a spectacular sight. The Jeju Fire Festival is a modern interpretation of the ancient pastoral traditions of the island.\n\nPhoto : Jeju Fire Festival ⓒ Jeju CityYear2019NationSouth Korea