Does Intangible Cultural Heritage Law Resolve Everything in China?

• Author: Luo Li
• Position: Queen Mary, University of London
• Pages: 355-362

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355

Does Intangible Cultural Heritage Law Resolve Everything in China?

Luo Li

Queen Mary, University of London

l.li@qmul.ac.uk

Abstract.

In order to protect intan gible cu ltural heritage (ICH), China enacted the

Intangible Cultural He ritage Law of the People’s Republic of China on 25th February 2011. This

law is the first o ne that comprehensively c overs various sectors of rules related to ICH and it

emphasizes an important role of ‘protection’. However, a lthough this law is regard ed as a

landmark for the protection of ICH, most contents of this law mainly refer to public law whereas

little conte nt refers to private law. As this law has a strong taste of administration law, it is no

helpful for resolving the issues in the protection of private legal righ ts.

© 2012 Luo Li. Published by JICLT. All rights reserved.

1 Introduction

China has abundant intangible cultural heritage (ICH) resources with historical, social, economic and political

values. However, ICH resources are disappearing or have disappeared. Even traditional culture is disappearing

quickly and is being destroyed by modern lifestyles.

ICH resources have been abused or exploited randomly due to a lack of comprehensive and systematic law in

China. A lack of well-defined guidelines and protection laws had led to a steady and prolonged flight of the

nation’s cultural treasures overseas. In order to strengthen the protection and preservation of ICH, China enacted

on 25th February 2011, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Law of the People’s Republic of China

1

regarded as a

landmark for the protection of ICH. The law entered into force on June 1, 2011. This law is the first o ne that

comprehensively covers vario us sectors of rules related to ICH, such as investigating ICH in China, systems for

representative ICH items and its representative inheritor, transmission and inheritance, and reasonable

exploitation based on effective protection. An important role of ‘protection’ is mentioned in the new law.

Compared with previous regulations or opinions, the new law is advanced, taking China from a simple system o f

identification and management towards a more comprehensive and secure system for the safeguarding and

sustainable development of such property.

However, as most rules in the new law are intended to r egulate governmental behaviour, the new law actuall y

only provides public law protection to some extent.

2 Past Regulations Related to ICH

The Chinese Government has always been concerned about protecting the country's cultural heritage. Quite a

number of policies and measures have been taken to protect ICH, but only to a limited extent prior to the newly

enacted Intangible Cultural Heritage La w of the P eople’s Republic of China. As early as 199 8, authorities

organized nationwide investigations in to folk art and ethnic customs, laying an i mportant foundation for the law

.

China started to collect information on traditional culture i n the 1950s. In 2006, 518 items were approved as the

first group of national masterpieces of intangible cultural heritage. I n 2004, China was enlisted into the UN

1

Intangible Cultural Heritage Law of the People’s Republic of China 2011. This law came into force on 1

st

June 2011.