Intangible Cultural Heritage:Chinese Cultural Gene in Urgent Need of Protection
An important feature of the intangible cultural heritage is its widespread representation.This means that what it represents is not the idea or aesthetic taste of any individual person,but the constant common idea and common aesthetic value of the whole ethnic group and even all the people of the country,thus it boasts the special attribute of the cultural gene of this ethnic group.Comparable to the biological"gene",the intangible cultural heritage,as the Chinese"cultural gene",also enjoys super"stability"and"heredity",which indeed concentrates the spiritual wealth and folk wisdom that a nation most deserve to pass on to future generations.From the perspective of preserving the cultural genome of a nation,unaltered and authentic inheritance is the best form of preservation."Living inheritance"should not be the reason for transforming the intangible cultural heritage as an excellent ethnic cultural gene,neither should t be the reason for making it"genetically modified".At present,an important task is to ensure the"purity"of the genes transmitted by the intangible cultural heritage and the"stability"of the gene inheritance from the concept and system.To avoid the invasion of foreign"genes"and the occurrence of"genetic modification"would be an eternal theme for the protection of intangible cultural heritage in China.
intangible cultural heritagecultural geneChinese civilizationinheritanceauthentic preservation