INTANGIBLE HERITAGE AND CULTURAL ROUTES IN A UNIVERSAL CONTENT

Kunie Sugio

(Japón)

The culture of various parts of Eurasia is thought to have been developed with mutual influence due to the Silk Road during long many years of transition from the old stone age (Paleolithic age) to the New Stone Age (The Neolithic age).  Evidences of some sort of interchange between Western and Eastern cultures had already been found since the Old Stone Age.

For instance, the Venus images excavated in various parts of Northern Eurasia manifest the existence of cultural exchange and the spread of Venus images.

An excellent culture gradually disseminated to various surrounding areas.  However, the form of receptivity of the culture changed and evolved in different ways depending on the peculiarity of the respective regions.

The traces of the evidence to these are found not merely in great structures and the forms of remains.  It is said that the daily living wares as found in the painted pottery and other articles excavated from a wide area extending from West Asia to East Asia of that age can also evidence the propagation of culture and the generation of new cultures.  The route, and the corridor zones of propagation of culture from the ancient time can be found.

That the ancient silk road used to be called gem road because of gem-wares (jewelry) found in the remains excavated from various parts of china even in present age is an evidence that East-west barter trade would already take place between the West and China since the New Stone Age.  Precious stones (jewel) used to be carried from Hortan, the place of its origin, to Rolan which was established as a transit area, and a new township for barter trade was set up.  It is said that in due course of time, it was shaped into a castle city.

It is difficult to trace back the East-West communication in the pre-historic age to find a clear age or a route from the result of archeological investigations, but it is possible to substantiate it from the mythology, tradition, religion, etc. that are left behind.

This way, most of the tangible heritage, such as remains, architectural structures, various artifacts, monuments and so on, have often been destroyed or lost due to some sort of effect of human beings or nature, natural disaster and other causes.  Especially, it is remarkable in the case of passage of culture that has a great role in dissemination or succession of culture, religion, materials, artistic properties, and folk culture that existed over an wide region.  Even if the Silk Road is taken as an example, the present Silk Road is not found to have been preserved in its perfect form upto the present, but the intangible heritage, such as the characteristics of surviving race surrounding the route and the minority race, their figures, the genes, languages, cultural properties, clothings, living styles, agricultural methods, city structures, architectural styles, customs, manners, political systems, religions, traditional skills, industries, arts, music, etc. are continuing distinctly still now.  Therefore even though it is not necessarily existing or is preserved as a road in a clear form, its existence and value as a cultural route becomes evident when the existence of intangible heritage is traced back.  It is thought that it is possible to prove its existence as a cultural route from the continuity, dissemination and the range of influence of the intangible heritage.  These intangible cultural properties have been inherited by individuals and races, and can be thought to be more valuable than the tangible properties.  For instance, Buddha-statues which are tangible cultural properties have recently been destroyed by Taliban.  Such tangible properties are limited, but the religious interests, faith, the stone cave and the skill of carving that large statues of Buddha, that were behind the creation of the tangible cultural properties of Buddha-image can be succeeded by men permanently.  In other words, if these techniques and resources can be definitely succeeded, it is not impossible to reproduce them.  Man-made tangible cultural properties can be reproduced as long as the cultural characteristics of the respective races can be protected and maintained.

Accordingly, what is more important is the existence of men themselves, races and their cultural features.  That is to say, it is these versatile characteristics that can be the intangible cultural properties.

Eastward advance of the culture of the horse-riding race brought about by the cultural route called the Silk Road to the Korean peninsula and then to Japan across the sea, was an important factor in establishing the ancient dynasty in Japan.

If we look into Eurasia continent of around 521 years before ancient period, it is observed that Daleios who uniformly controlled a wide area with many heterogeneous races and cultures, constructed roads originating from the central to the peripheral areas, creating a transmission system from one station to the next station to uniformly bring a vast area of Persian main land under control.  Later, Herodotos established about 2500km long "Road of the King" and established linkage stations at every 25km.  Large rivers were used as routes for ship.  Thus, these road networks have been used for transportation since ancient time.  This formed the Western part of the Silk Road.  The western half of this Silk Road had already been used in the latter half of the 6th century B.C.

It does not mean, there is a distinct road called the Silk Road, but the influential and transmitted cultures have distinctly advanced not only to Japan but also to various other countries, and are inherited as intangible cultural properties.

These roads have developed not only military and administrative aspects but also a distribution economy over a wider area.

Moreover, Daleios developed and built marine transportation routes between Egypt and India.  The canal inbetween the Nile and the Red sea was developed.  Besides, since 2 AD, many western priests visited China for diffusion and translation of Buddha documents and dogma.  Chinese priests also visited Buddha-remains in India for obtaining the sacred books.  This way, Buddhism has been diffused throughout the whole of China.  In a short time, it reached Japan, and Buddhist art spread to the East, exerting great cultural influence on Western region, China and East Asian countries.

Various techniques, arts and religions in China, and in the 7th/8th century, the Chinese culture moved to the West.  Chinese paper-making technology was brought to the Western world through the Silk Road connecting the Muslim world.

This time when we look at particularly the actual status of cultural route in Japan, it can be observed that the route itself is not necessarily preserved perfectly due to development of the means of transportation, and urbanization.  However, though the route itself is said to have disappeared significantly, their succession, inheritance, and existence as intangible cultural properties derived from the routes during the historical changes and propagation are highly noticeable.  These are observed to have been succeeded in some forms using past routes.  For instance, in the area of faith, pilgrims are travel in their ancient clothings, manners and customs, and perform yearly events imitating the parade of Daimyo (feudal lord) .

The cultures disseminated, and succeeded through the cultural routes, that have been absorbed, diffused, or divided, fused, combined, interchanged, and widely changed in the localities are much in existence as intangible cultural properties which can easily be recognized and evaluated.  For instance, manners and customs related to food, clothing and housing, and occupations, religious faiths, folk performance or festivals, and yearly events have been succeeded and preserved in relation to the regional climate or social life since early period.

Such folk-cultural properties are mostly in the basic forms of traditional culture of the regions.  Thus, it may be noted that these cultures can be observed remarkably in the region of the route or the cultural road, and there may be a great relationship between the cultural route and the intangible cultural properties.

Protection and value of intangible cultural assets in Japan

The law for the protection of cultural properties enacted in 1950 has been revised thoroughly in 1954 and 1975.  Especially, full protection was also to be given to the art of entertainments and folk cultural properties, and they will be utilized actively.  Moreover, in Japan, plays, musics, art skill, human skill and other intangible cultural assets, which are of high historic or artistic value to Japan are already intangible properties, that are embodied in each individual or groups of individuals.  These intangible properties are the human skill (waza) itself.  Accordingly, its existence includes a possibility of changes in contents and types.  Thus, as it is characteristically protected and succeeded through the holders of such skills (waza), the skill holders are designated.

This waza (skill) is designated from amongst the arts of traditional entertainment skill in music, dancing (buyo) and theatrical performance, and techniques (skills) in pottery, dyeing, lacquering, metal work, and other skills, when the following 3 criteria are met –

1) that it has special artistic value;

2) that it occupies specially important position in the history of arts (entertainment) and craft skill; and

3) that it has high artistic value or occupies an important position in the history of artistic performance or craft skill, and also shows remarkable characteristics of the region or a method (school).  Each individual designated as an important intangible cultural property is called "Living National Treasure".  As other "Folk-cultural properties", the manners and customs related to food, clothings and housing, occupations, religious faiths, festivals and other annual observances and folk-performing arts and the clothing, implements and housing used in connection thereof and also other articles that are produced in the course of daily lives and have been passed down in tangible and intangible ways and that show the changes in the people's mode of life, and have been created in relation to the environment and social life of the respective region, and handed down upto now after devising and improvement, which are indispensable for understanding Japanese traditional culture are subjected to protection.

Moreover, as intangible folk-cultural properties, the customs and manners related to food, clothing and housing occupations, religious faiths, annual observances, etc., and folk entertainments, festivals, particularly those have special value among them are designated as intangible Folk-cultural properties.

These are preserved by the local people, and those objects shall be passed on to the next generations.  Customs or manners that are likely to control the living or the faiths of the people, which have high possibility of change with the living style, shall not be the designated objects, but most of them are naturally succeeded.

The designated objects are mainly the folk-entertainments and annual events, but as a future trend, it will be necessary to expand the designations of the customs and manners compared to folk entertainments.  Especially, the protection and the utilization of intangible folk-cultural properties through their succession have an influence on regional prosperity.  These are also effective as cultural as well as tourism resources.

This way, research on, and handling and protection of intangible cultural properties are authorized in Japan according to the Law for Protection of Cultural Properties, but it is not enough.

It is thought that intangible heritage of CIIC shall be treated adequately with deeper consideration and investigation from the viewpoint of a culture transmitted through the cultural route and succeeded in the regional area of the cultural road.