Report on the status of an element inscribed on the list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding
A. Cover sheet
A.1.
State Party
Name of State Party
China
A.2.
Date of deposit of the instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession
This information is available online.
Date of deposit of the instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession
2004-12-02
A.3.
Element inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List that is the subject of this report
Name of element
Traditional Li textile techniques: spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidering
Inscribed in
2009
A.4.
Reporting period covered by this report
Please indicate the period covered by this report.
Reporting period covered by this report
01-01-2016 - 31-12-2017
A.5.
Other elements inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List, if any
Please list all other elements from your country inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List, together with the year of inscription; for multinational elements, please indicate the other States concerned.
Other elements inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List, if any
Hezhen Yimakan storytelling (2011)
Meshrep (2010)
Qiang New Year festival (2009)
Traditional design and practices for building Chinese wooden arch bridges (2009)
Watertight-bulkhead technology of Chinese junks (2010)
Wooden movable-type printing of China (2010)
A.6.
Executive summary of the report
Please provide an executive summary of the report that will allow general readers to understand the current status of the element, any positive or negative impacts of inscription, the implementation of safeguarding measures during the reporting period and their possible update for the following years.
Executive summary of the report
The traditional Li textile techniques of spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidering are employed by the women of Li ethnic group of Hainan Province, China, to make cotton, hemp and other natural fibers into clothing and other daily necessities. In their long history of understanding and utilizing plant fibers and dyes, the women of Li ethnic group gradually formed a whole system of Li textile techniques. The system consists of spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidering, and boasts the warp ikat and double-face embroidery. These techniques pass down from mothers to daughters through generations. All the products made accordingly, such as dragon quilt, V-neck pullover, bed sheet, pencil skirt, headscarf, flowery hat and tapestry, are generally called Li textile. As carriers of Li culture, traditional Li textile techniques are an indispensable part of the cultural heritage of the Li ethnic group. However, in recent decades the numbers of women with the weaving and embroidery skills at their command has severely declined to the extent that traditional Li textile techniques are exposed to the risk of extinction.
In October 2009, the element was inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List. After the first reporting period of safeguarding efforts, the stakeholders have fulfilled all the safeguarding measures they committed in the nomination files and eased the endangered status of this element. During the second reporting period of safeguarding efforts, the stakeholders continued to consolidate their achievements in the earlier period, and proactively sought new modes of safeguarding. More and more Li people come to realize that these traditional techniques by women not only satisfy the daily life needs, but also have great value in the consciousness and development of the Li ethnic culture. The bearers and practitioners of the element are more actively participating in the safeguarding and transmission activities. Both the numbers of participants and the frequency of safeguarding activities are showing an upward trend. In particular, the efforts and achievements in intergenerational transmission and market demand-powered technique advancement provide strong guarantee for the viability of the element. The safeguarding and transmission platforms have greatly increased and diversified with the help of related communities and governments at all levels. More and more Chinese people come to know this precious intangible cultural heritage of the Li ethnic group.
A.7.
Contact person for correspondence
Provide the name, address and other contact information of the person responsible for correspondence concerning the report.
Title (Ms/Mr, etc.)
Mr
Family name
MO
Given name
Qingqiao
Institution/position
Center for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hainan Province, China / Director
Address
68 Guoxingdadao, Meilan District, Haikou City, Hainan Province, China, 570203
Telephone number
0086-898-65307778 0086-13098989918
E-mail address
360890212@qq.com
Other relevant information
http://www.hnsfy.org/ (the website for Hainan Intangible Cultural Heritage)
B
Ms
B. Status of element inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List
Refer to the nomination file or to previous reports, if any, as the basis for reporting on the current status of the element, and report only on relevant changes since the date of inscription on the List or since the previous report. Nomination files, specific timetables and earlier reports, if any, are available at https://ich.unesco.org or from the Secretariat, upon request.
The State Party shall pay special attention to the role of gender and shall endeavour to ensure the widest possible participation of the communities, groups and, where applicable, individuals concerned as well as relevant non-governmental organizations during the process of preparing this report, and is asked to describe how it has done so in point D below.
B.1.
Social and cultural functions
Please explain the social and cultural functions and meanings of the element today, within and for its community, the characteristics of the bearers and practitioners, and any specific roles or categories of persons with special responsibilities towards the element, among others. Attention should be given to any relevant changes related to inscription criterion U.1 (‘the element constitutes intangible cultural heritage as defined in Article 2 of the Convention’).
Social and cultural functions
The women of the Li ethnic group are the major bearers and practitioners of the element. As their essential skills for the traditional society, they learn the techniques involved in the element from their mothers and also acquire the related knowledge and skills through verbal instruction and body demonstration of elder women during the gatherings of those practicing the techniques. The teaching and practicing of the techniques will last to their senility.
Caused by accelerated modernization, cheap assembly-line products has gradually replaced the daily necessity of Li textile and patterns. But the Li textile is still indispensable due to its role of cultural recognition in major ceremonial occasions such as religious events, festivals, weddings and funerals. Especially after the two reporting periods of safeguarding efforts, the Li people’s overall awareness of safeguarding and transmitting their traditional cultural heritage has been increasing.
The female bearers commanding the techniques involved in the element have not only gained economic benefits from practicing the element, but also obtained respect of their community. Therefore, they are enthusiastic about transmitting and revitalizing the element for its improved viability. The general public of the Li ethnic group, especially the younger generation, no longer take these traditional techniques as women’s essential skills for daily life. They have realized that this traditional technique system, with females as its major practitioners, embodies profound knowledge, group memory and ethnic identity. For example, the patterns of Li textile demonstrate Li culture, such as beliefs, taboos, customs, folkways, local history and legends. These patterns are not only of high aesthetic value, but also act as an important symbol for distinguishing different branches inside the ethnic group, namely, Ha, Qi, Meifu, Run and Sai. The popularization of this cultural consciousness among the Li people has further strengthened the role of the element in boosting cultural exchanges within the communities of the Li ethnic group, and maintaining ethnic identity.
B.2.
Assessment of its viability and current risks
Please describe the current level of viability of the element, particularly the frequency and extent of its practice, the strength of traditional modes of transmission, the demographics of practitioners and audiences and its sustainability. Please also identify and describe the threats, if any, to the element's continued transmission and enactment and describe the severity and immediacy of such threats, giving particular attention to any strengthening or weakening of the element’s viability subsequent to inscription.
Assessment of its viability and current risks
Compared with the previous reporting period, the viability of this element has improved. The transmission of the element is practiced in all the communities of the Li ethnic group in Hainan Province. Urbanization enables more children and young people to study and work in cities, gradually shifting the transmission practice of the element from within the family to the public space. For example, there are a growing number of training centers in communities, schools and teaching platforms. From 2016 to 2017, the relevant communities held lots of training activities, including more than 70 training classes at or above the county level as well as hundreds of transmission and practicing activities at different levels, attended by as many as 150,000 person-times. Among the participants of the activities, about 80% are young and middle-aged Li women under the age of 55. More than 8,000 students from over 50 primary and secondary schools learnt the basic knowledge of Li textile techniques and back-strap loom techniques in various in-class activities, and over 400 students from 2 provincial-level and 3 municipal/county-level vocational schools were trained in the techniques through vocational education. The activities above have greatly promoted the intergenerational transmission of the element.
With the world’s increased attention to the element and the impact of globalization, the Li textile products have been transformed from the daily necessities of the Li people into cultural products. The economic benefits and the need to improve practitioners’ living standards are attracting more Li women to spontaneously establish Li textile cooperatives or studios, where they can engage in the transmission and exchanges of the techniques and the production of Li textile products. They also purchase Li textile products from female practitioners in the surrounding villages for wholesaling and retailing. Many Li women’s social status has been elevated from housewife to full-time worker of the Li textile products.
The current threats to the element have been elaborated in the previous periodic report. As mentioned above, although the safeguarding measures during 2016-2017 have alleviated the endangered status of the element, they cannot offset the changes of the ecological and cultural environment of the element under the impacts of accelerating urbanization, changing lifestyles and occupations of the Li People. In particular, the profitability-driven production of Li textile goods makes most practitioners focus only on their output and ignore the transmission and practice of Li textile techniques. This production mode, while benefiting the communities, is exacerbating the unbalanced development of the techniques of the element. So, the safeguarding plan needs to be adjusted to create a mode which can better accommodate the people’s needs and better address the threats to the viability of the element.
B.3.
Implementation of safeguarding measures
Please report on the safeguarding measures described in the nomination file, and previous report, if any. Describe how they have been implemented and how they have substantially contributed to the safeguarding of the element during the reporting period, taking note of external or internal constraints such as limited resources. Include, in particular, information on the measures taken to ensure the viability of the element by enabling the community to continue to practise and transmit it. Include the following detailed information concerning the implementation of the set of safeguarding measures or safeguarding plan:
B.3.a.
Objectives and results
Indicate what primary objective(s) were addressed and what concrete results were attained during the reporting period.
Objectives and results
Since 2016, we have consolidated the achievements in the previous reporting period, and continued to use the effective safeguarding measures for the transmission and dissemination of the element. New modes more responsive to social changes and people’s needs have also been explored so that the traditional knowledge and techniques of the element can be transmitted more effectively. Through the safeguarding efforts, the following objectives have been reached:
1. Continuing to consolidate the effective safeguarding measures in the previous period, including: continuing the financial support program and the assessment system to provide more effective support for bearers, increasing the number of training and practicing platforms and transmission activities to stimulate the vitality of the traditional mode of transmission, offering more curricula in educational institutions at various levels to promote the young generation's cognition of the element so as to ease the difficulty of intergenerational transmission, holding annual promoting activities of various kinds to expand the scope of practice and awareness, maintaining the dedicated plantation bases to ensure the supply of traditional raw materials, and carrying out in-depth cooperation with research institutes, with the financial support and legal guarantee from the governments at all levels, to record and store the information related to this element with diversified methods.
The implementation of these safeguarding measures has not only improved the ecological and cultural environment for the element’s transmission among the communities, which have not only boosted the bearers and practitioners’ enthusiasm in safeguarding and transmitting the element, but also drove all the people of the Li ethnic group to treasure their own culture which includes the element. At present, a traditional transmission system of certain scale has been formed, which includes both the platforms represented by the training and practicing centers at all levels with the Li women as the major participants, and the formal educational institutions aimed to provide related extracurricular courses for students in primary and secondary schools and related technique training programs for students in vocational schools.
2. Exploring new modes following social trend and people’s needs, including:
(1) Balancing market needs with technique transmission - supporting the cooperatives, studios and e-commerce platforms spontaneously organized by the bearers and practitioners in the form of production-logistics-sales union, and deepening the bearers and practitioners’ cognition and knowledge of the element in terms of academic and jurisprudential interpretations and ethics, under the guidance and support of the Ministry of Culture and the cultural departments at all levels in China, through various forms of seminars and teaching programs, so that the people of the Li communities would fully aware of the multi-level cultural functions and social significance of the element while benefiting from it.
(2) Improving ecological protection with technique transmission - adjusting the scale of raw material planting by reducing the area of raw material plantation bases from 525 mu in various cities and counties to 148 mu in Dongfang City, while fully meeting the demands for the training and practicing centers at city and county levels, to avoid the waste of labor and physical resources.
(3) Establishing a mechanism for the collaboration between Li communities and social institutions - practicing and improving the multiple-actor coordination mechanism led by bearers, assisted by institutions and supported by government, in the process of implementing the programs such as the rescuing recording of the element demonstrated by Rong Yamei, a national level representative bearer of the element, the creation of an exclusive digitized cultural data management system for the element, and the national training program for Li textile pattern designers, with the aid of IT institutes, academic research institutes and educational institutions.
B.3.b.
Safeguarding activities
List the key activities that were carried out during this reporting period in order to achieve these expected results. Please describe the activities in detail and note their effectiveness or any problems encountered in implementing them.
Safeguarding activities
During 2016-2017, in addition to the routine work, the following safeguarding activities have also been launched:
-Strengthening complete transmission of the element
About 50 sessions of training courses targeting the Li women living in rural areas were held in various cities and counties, attended by as many as 3,000 trainees. In addition to major training programs focusing on back strap loom techniques, more attention has been paid to the training programs dedicated to each of the Li textile techniques, namely, spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidering, enabling the attendees to acquire more complete understanding of all the techniques, for example, the double-face embroidery training in Baisha Li Autonomous County, the training on double cloth weaving and pre-weaving warping in Wuzhishan City, the training of spinning, plant dyeing and techniques to the region in some cities and counties such as Baoting, Ledong and Dongfang. Besides, the training activities aimed to rescue and publicize card weaving, the ancient Li technique newly discovered in recent years, have also been carried out in Wuzhishan City.
-Raising bearers and practitioners’ cultural consciousness
Relevant communities, with the support of government departments at all levels, carried out diversified activities to encourage the bearers to take the initiative to enrich their knowledge and broaden their horizon, and encourage the attendees of the training programs to lead the local efforts in the transmission of the element. Currently，there is a phenomenon that is “transmission in one area can be boosted by training one person”. For example, the representative bearer training course in Hainan in November 2016 was attended by 101 bearers. More than 50 officials from the cultural departments and agencies at various levels attended the training on the 2003 Convention and related laws and regulations in May 2017. 3 training sessions about the general knowledge of Li textile techniques, with the objectives of strengthening foundation, enhancing knowledge and widening horizon for the transmission and practice of the element, were held, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education of China, by Hainan Tropical Ocean University in April, May and September 2017.
-Strengthening productivity-oriented preservation to enhance the viability of Li textile techniques
Supporting relevant communities to directly engage in the Li textile business including the production and sale so that they can improve their living conditions and gain cultural benefits. During 2016-2017, to meet market demand, production-logistics-sales cooperatives spontaneously organized by Li women continued to increase, among which, 4 new cooperatives locate in Baisha and 3 in Qiongzhong County.
-Deepening cultural transmission in teaching platforms at various levels
The relevant communities continued to cultivate interest and train basic skills of all kinds of students:
(1) The number of teaching platforms offering curricula about the element continued to increase. At present, 52 primary and secondary schools in 9 ethnic cities and counties in Hainan Province are offering Li textile practice courses, with the participation of more than 6,000 primary and secondary students.
(2) Departments of Li textile techniques have been set up in some vocational technical schools, offering Li textile-centered courses, creating a platform for the intergenerational transmission of the element and enhancing the appeal of Li textile to the young people.
(3) Some pilot training programs have been established in colleges and universities. For example, “National Li Textile Design Training Program” supported by China National Arts Fund was held in Hainan Normal University, in which 90% of the trainees learning from the 6 representative bearers such as Rong Yamei, have masters’ degree or above.
-Diversifying efforts in expanding transmission and practice
(1) Regular Li textile techniques-themed exhibitions in festival celebrations - On Mar. 28, 2017, a thousand Li weavers challenged the Guinness World Records in Dongfang City,, and more than 1,000 bearers attended the event, of whom 322 challenged the Guinness World Records successfully. Thus, Dongfang City won the Guinness World Records for “most people weaving cloth simultaneously”.
(2) Domestic safeguarding and dissemination - In May 2016, Li textile products attracted much attention in ICIF 2016 Shenzhen and the sales volume of Li textile products such as scarf reached over 30,000 RMB. In June 2016, 5 new-generation bearers of the element participated in the competition and exhibition of the 6th International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Chengdu, China, in which Wang Guihua and Fu Lirong won the title of Star of New-Generation Craftsman, and Huang Huiqiong and Zhang Chaoying Star of New-Generation Handicraftsman, and Ji Mingya Star of New-Generation Bearers. In 2016, the 7th Hainan Li Textile Weaving Competition (Student Group) witnessed a increasing number of male contestants (namely 74 male contestants).
(3) Diversified international exchanges and cooperation - Liu Xianglan and many other representative bearers of the element performed the traditional Li textile techniques in Hainan Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition 2016 in Malta and the cultural exchange activities in Mongolia in 2017, which was widely acclaimed by the local people.
-Promoting database building for the element
In 2017, the phase I objectives of shooting the oral history, teaching video, practice video and summary video of the national-level representative bearer Rong Yamei and the pilot program of building a digital management system for the element, both supported by the Ministry of Culture, have been fulfilled. Meanwhile, the data recording and database management are in line with the relevant standards. This has also helped to promote the digital management of other elements (http://www.hnsfy.org/).
-Avoiding waste while providing sufficient raw materials
The scale of the raw material plantation bases built by the government during the period from 2010 to 2015 has been adjusted from 525 mu in 9 cities and counties to 148 mu in Dongfang City, including 50 mu sea island cotton, 50 mu ramie, 40 mu anil, 5 mu turmeric, 1 mu peristrophe floribunda, 1 mu basella alba and 1 mu sappanwood, which can meet the demands of the Li women in the surrounding cities and counties for their training and practicing of the techniques, so as to avoid the waste of labor and resources.
B.3.c.
Participation of communities, groups or individuals in the safeguarding activities
Describe how communities, groups or, if appropriate, individuals as well as relevant non-governmental organizations have effectively participated, including in terms of gender roles, in the safeguarding measures. Describe the role of the implementing organization or body (name, background, etc.) and the human resources that were available for implementing safeguarding activities.
Participation of communities, groups or individuals in the safeguarding activities
After two reporting periods of safeguarding, the scope of practice of this element has been expanded to all the Li communities in Hainan Province from 5 cities and counties indicated in the nomination file. In this process, the active participation of communities, groups, individuals and relevant non-governmental organizations has effectively promoted the implementation of the safeguarding measures.
-Active practice and transmission by bearers
Besides the non-profit activities such as dissemination, demonstration, teaching and training of the element, the national and provincial bearers represented by Rong Yamei, Liu Xianglan, Fu Linzao, Fu Xiuying, Huang Liqiong and Liu Xiaozhen also carry out many training and exchange activities in 16 communities concerned and engage themselves in managing production and sales, which has attracted a large number of women to join the weaving team. At present, the total number of women in Hainan Province engaged in Li textile weaving remains above 10,000 and is still increasing, and the number of people mastering at least one of the concrete techniques is nearly 14,000. In addition, the number of cooperatives with women as the major practitioners continues to grow, such as Jinchai Li Textile Cooperative in Qiongzhong County (36 members), Shengpo Li Textile Cooperative (38 members), and Shitong Li Textile Cooperative (47 members). The current number of relevant cooperatives has totaled over 40. These cooperatives spontaneously established by the Li people are not only effectively promoting the safeguarding and transmission of the element, but also exhibiting and selling the finished products produced by them, leading to better social benefits and increased income of the members, and creating a new possibility for peasants to overcome poverty and achieve prosperity.
-Intergenerational transmission effectively promoted by practice platforms co-built by educational and academic organizations
The primary and secondary schools, vocational schools, universities and research institutes in Li ethnic cities and counties have carried out a series of transmission and education activities at different levels.
(1) Primary and secondary education - More than 10 primary and secondary schools began to offer curricula related to the element, in which, Baisha witness an increase of 7 schools in the past two years, with the total number of related schools reaching 16, cultivating more than 1,000 students.
(2) Vocational education - Departments of Li textile techniques were set up in some vocational technical schools such as Hainan Minzu Technical School, Sanya Advanced Technical School and Secondary Vocational Technical School of Baisha Li Autonomous County, which have trained hundreds of new practitioners with specialized techniques and cultural knowledge, forming a new driving force for the transmission.
(3) Higher education and research institutes - Hainan Institute of Ethnology, Hainan Museum, Hainan Minzu Museum and other academic institutions are actively engaged in the publicity, demonstration and training activities while carrying out the relevant academic researches. For example, Hainan Tropical Ocean University, as one of the institutions involved in the research and training program of ICH bearers supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education of China, has completed 3 sessions of training on Li textile techniques, lasting 1 month, attended by 150 practitioners.
B.3.d.
Timetable and budget
Indicate in a timetable when each activity was implemented and the funds that were used for its implementation, identifying the source of funding for each (governmental sources, in-kind community inputs, etc.).
Timetable and budget
During 2016-2017, the implementation of safeguarding measures and activities related to this element (for details, see B3b and B3c), used a total amount of 9 million RMB funding from the governments at all levels, and the details by year are as follows:
In 2016, a total of 4.5 million RMB was invested by Hainan Province into various safeguarding measures related to the element, including the following 3 major aspects. Firstly, the safeguarding efforts in 9 Li ethnic cities and counties in Hainan Province include 1.18 million RMB for exhibition and transmission, 900,000 RMB for outreach activities on campuses, 360,000 RMB for management and operation of training centers, 450,000 RMB for purchasing Li textile objects. Secondly, 600,000 RMB for the raw material plantation base in Dongfang City. Thirdly, 110,000 RMB for dissemination and documentation, including shooting the digital documentaries by the Center for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hainan Province, 140,000 RMB for exhibitions, 250,000 RMB for competitions, 200,000 RMB for procurement of Li textile objects, and 310,000 RMB for comprehensive costs of supervision, conferences, exchanges organized by the Department of Culture, Radio, Television, Publication and Sports of Hainan Province. In addition, the central government has earmarked 800,000 RMB into a special fund, in which 400,000 RMB for building database for the element and 400,000 RMB for rescuing recording of Rong Yamei, a representative bearer of the element.
In 2017, the provincial government of Hainan made further investment of 3.7 million RMB to carry out safeguarding activities in 9 relevant communities, including 900,000 RMB for exhibition and training programs, 900,000 RMB for campus outreach activities, 360,000 RMB for management and operation of training centers, 200,000 RMB for building 2 new exhibition and training centers targeting tourists, 500,000 RMB for raw material plantation base; and various dissemination and archiving activities – 290,000 RMB for the Exhibition of Li Textile Techniques held by the Center for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hainan Province on the Intangible Cultural Heritage Day, 110,000 RMB for photo exhibitions on campuses, 100,000 RMB for participation in national exhibitions, 200,000 RMB for procurement of Li textile items and 140,000 RMB for the comprehensive costs of supervision, conferences, exchanges organized by the Department of Culture, Radio, Television, Publication and Sports of Hainan Province.
It is worth mentioned that the relevant business organizations and individuals have also actively promoted the implementation of safeguarding measures by raising funds to support the element. For example, Hetian Tourism Co., Ltd., as the second-batch National Level Demonstration Base of Intangible Cultural Heritage for Productivity-Oriented Preservation, invested more than 1.7 million RMB to build Sailong’ao Li Costume Studio, over 3.4 million RMB to build Li Textile Studio, and nearly 2 million RMB to organize full-time and part-time training programs of Li textile techniques.
B.3.e.
Overall effectiveness of the safeguarding activities
Provide an overall assessment of the effectiveness of the activities undertaken to achieve the expected results and of the efficiency of the use of funds for implementing the activities. Please indicate how the activities contributed to achieving the results and whether other activities could have contributed better to achieving the same results. Also indicate whether the same results could have been achieved with less funding, whether the human resources available were appropriate and whether communities, groups and individuals could have been better involved.
Overall effectiveness of the safeguarding activities
The results achieved by the safeguarding measures from 2010 to 2015 have been consolidated in 2016-2017, and the current status is as follows:
Firstly, the transmission system works well. The representative bearers at all levels, due to their excellent ability of practice and transmission of the element, have gained wide recognition from relevant communities and won good reputation, enabling them to play extremely important roles in every aspect of the safeguarding efforts. Together with tens of thousands of Li women who are practicing the Li textile techniques and thousands of students from primary and secondary schools as well as vocational schools who are learning the Li textile techniques, they have formed a colossal, organic and well-run transmission system on the platform of training and practicing centers at different levels and various schools. In order to ensure the smooth operation of this system, the transmission activities of more than 30 national and provincial representative bearers and the majority of representative bearers at country and city levels continue to receive varying amounts of subsidies from the government.
Secondly, the productivity-oriented safeguarding promotes the sustainable development of the element. Many Li women regained the Li textile techniques that are at the risk of extinction. Besides meeting their own needs, Li women produced more Li textile products for the market. The subsequent economic benefits have not only greatly improved the living standards of many Li families, but also contributed to saving government funding at all levels. The implementation of productivity-oriented safeguarding has not only promoted the continuous production of Li textile, but also enhanced the cultural consciousness and confidence of the Li people in inheriting and developing their ethnic culture.
Thirdly, the diversified channels of knowledge and information dissemination have broadened the scope of practice and awareness. In addition to various kinds of presentations on media and in conference, the number of both public and private exhibition halls showcasing the element is on the rise in the relevant cities and counties, forming an increasingly mature publicity and exhibition mode and a regular work mechanism. The rescuing recording of the national representative bearers of intangible cultural heritages has been completed in line with relevant standards and guided by experts. More and more academic institutions and experts are conducting extensive and in-depth academic studies from the perspective of humanities and technologies. The aforesaid activities and the safeguarding practices of the communities, groups and individuals have effectively complemented the overall safeguarding efforts.
Finally, while safeguarding measures are funded by the government, the number of activities funded by the private sector is also on the rise, such as private museums, community-built training centers and cooperatives. These acts not only reflect the communities’ increased awareness of safeguarding their ethnic culture, but also inject new vitality into the safeguarding measures of the element.
C
Zhang
C. Update of the safeguarding measures
C.1.
Updated safeguarding plan
Please provide an update of the safeguarding plan included in the nomination file or in the previous report. In particular provide detailed information as follows:
- a. What primary objective(s) will be addressed and what concrete results will be expected?
- b. What are the key activities to be carried out in order to achieve these expected results? Describe the activities in detail and in their best sequence, addressing their feasibility.
- c. How will the State(s) Party(ies) concerned support the implementation of the updated safeguarding plan?
Updated safeguarding plan
In order to better consolidate the existing results and deepen the safeguarding efforts in the future, the safeguarding measures are updated as follows:
a. Main objectives and expected results
1. Continuing to increase the number of representative bearers and carry out various forms of training activities, so as to enable the bearers to master a full set of the techniques, and continuing to promote education on the general knowledge and specialized techniques of the element so as to maintain the continuous growth of the number of practitioners;
2. Focusing on the technical and theoretical training of the young and middle-aged bearers, and striving to improve their capability of transmission so as to enhance the sustainable development of the element;
3. Improving the design, craftsmanship and overall quality of Li textile products, encouraging the establishment of more production-marketing cooperatives or companies, and helping to boost the promotion, exhibition and sales of their products;
4. Enhancing the efforts in setting up the related discipline and theoretical and technical researches, and conducting a wide range of international and domestic activities for dissemination and exchanges;
5. Continuing to formulate and improve the laws, regulations, policies and plans for safeguarding the element, strengthen the management and corporate governance of the relevant organizations, and pay attention to the holistic safeguarding measures.
b. Major activities to achieve expected results
1. Stimulating the younger generation’s enthusiasm in practicing the element, cultivating a group of bearers with the mastery of all the relevant techniques and craftsmanship, continuing to provide support for transmission activities such as apprenticeship programs, continuing to impart the general knowledge of the element to the students in primary and secondary schools and train more young practitioners in vocational schools, and continuing the efforts for improving the construction of transmission villages, transmission bases, teaching bases, demonstration bases for productivity-oriented safeguarding and raw material plantation bases;
2. Improving the overall quality and market competitiveness of Li textile products. Encouraging the bearers to cultivate branded products with personal characteristics by utilizing the traditional Li techniques while considering the needs of tourism, supporting the participation of organizations, such as higher education institutions and enterprises, in the cooperation to upgrade Li textile techniques on the platform of traditional crafts workshops, and holding a variety of expositions and exhibitions on traditional crafts to build platforms for the demonstration and marketing of the Li textile products;
3. Encouraging universities, research institutes and enterprises to set up research bases and key laboratories for the in-depth studies on Li textile techniques and designs, strengthening the discovery, recording and archiving of Li textile techniques - speeding up rescuing recording and improving digital management, encouraging the publication of research findings and practices, such as monographs, translations and photo albums, continuing to carry out and participate in various exhibitions, especially the use of new media for broader dissemination, and organizing bearers and representatives from the relevant enterprises and organizations to carry out domestic and international exchanges and trainings as well as the researches and cooperation on the techniques;
4. Promulgating laws and regulations on ICH safeguarding in Hainan Province, formulating the plan for revitalizing the traditional crafts, updating related policies to guide and support the sustainable development of the element.
c. State Party's support for implementation of updated safeguarding plan
1. Strengthening macro-guidance and overall coordination: the relevant government agencies at all levels putting ICH safeguarding, including Li textile techniques, into the overall planning of local economic and social development, integrating various resources and carrying out extensive training on Li techniques in the Li ethnic areas, encouraging them to be engaged in the production of traditional crafts, such as Li textile;
2. Implementing supporting policies: using the existing funding channels to appropriately support the acts which can benefit the development of excellent ethnic traditional culture, improve the living standards of the Li people and promote the sound development of the Li textile techniques, organizing training, teaching, publicity and demonstration activities at higher levels, conducting the collection, archiving and researches of relevant information and documents, continuing to subsidize the transmission activities of representative bearers at all levels, integrating the demonstration of traditional crafts and the building of training infrastructure into local development plan.
3. Encouraging social participation: encouraging all the social participants to set up enterprises, build platforms for exhibitions, training and services, organize trainings, seminars, exchanges and cooperation activities, encouraging financial institutions to develop financial products and services that fit the element, and strengthening the support, such as investment, financing and services, for the relevant enterprises.
d. Updated implementation timetable, budgets and inputs
The tentative work plan and the corresponding budgets and inputs for the period from 2018 to 2021 are as follows:
1. Carrying out annual training and practicing activities at provincial, municipal and county levels – 800,000 RMB from the provincial government and 1 million RMB from relevant cities and counties;
2. Annual programs to support national and provincial representative bearers, including subsidies for transmission and dissemination activities – 300,000 RMB from the provincial government and 300,000 RMB from relevant cities and counties;
3. Annual element-related teaching activities in primary and secondary schools and vocational schools – 900,000 RMB from the provincial government and 900,000 RMB from relevant cities and counties;
4. Annual seminars, studies and trainings participated by the bearers organized by universities - jointly funded by the cultural and educational authorities, and the relevant enterprises and institutions may be subsidized by cultural departments;
5. Supporting transmission villages, transmission bases, teaching bases, demonstration bases for productivity-oriented safeguarding and raw material plantation bases – 800,000 RMB from the provincial government, 500,000 RMB from relevant cities and counties, encouraging the villages without any training and practicing center dedicated to Li textile techniques to use their existing cultural centers to train and practice Li textile techniques;
6. Annual dissemination activities, including competitions, exhibitions, promotion activities and trade fairs related to the techniques and products of Li textile - 300,000 RMB, encouraging new media to carry out a wide range of dissemination activities to expand the audience;
7. Organizing researches, censuses, conferences and exchanges related to the element – 200,000 RMB, encouraging academic institutions to carry out researches and publish the findings, continuing the recordings and archiving of all the related information and documents, and promoting timely digitization of the archived files;
8. Building traditional crafts workshops in 2018 – 200,000 RMB subsidy from the provincial government;
9. Promulgating laws and regulations on the safeguarding of ICH in Hainan and formulating the plan for the rejuvenation of traditional crafts in Hainan Province and the related policies from 2018 to 2021 – 200,000 RMB;
10. Enhancing the management of relevant organizations, such as production organizations, distribution organizations and industry association, and the quality management of related products, and formulating corresponding grading standards, to boost sustainable development of productivity-oriented safeguarding;
11. Building provincial experimental zones for cultural and ecological protection in Hainan Province based on the coexistence of man and nature continuously manifested by the element, to explore new modes of safeguarding.
C.2.
Community participation
Please describe how communities, groups and individuals, as well as relevant non-governmental organizations have been involved, including in terms of gender roles, in updating the safeguarding plan, and how they will be involved in its implementation.
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Community participation
In the past few years, the relevant communities and groups, especially the representative bearers at various levels and numerous practitioners, have played an important role in improving the endangered status of the element and implementing the safeguarding measures stated in the nomination file. At the same time, the bearers are full of hope for the future development.
Firstly, the safeguarding authority of the element effectively implemented the current community participation mechanism which had been proven to be effective, to formulate the updated plan for the third reporting period. The relevant people were organized to conduct surveys in the relevant communities, reach out to townships and villages through meetings and interviews, solicit the opinions on the updated safeguarding plan from relevant community managers, representative bearers and cooperative organizers, such as major problems in the current safeguarding efforts and the corresponding suggestions - for example, using the existing cultural centers in rural areas to carry out training and practicing activities so as to facilitate the local women’s efforts in the training of Li textile techniques, reducing the scale of raw material plantation bases on the basis of meeting the needs of training and practicing activities in relevant cities, counties and townships, given the fact that an increasing number of practitioners are planting or purchasing the raw materials themselves, to avoid the waste of funding, land and related human resources, and designing and creating more forms of art works and pragmatic products to meet the needs of the modern society so as to better promote the Li ethnic culture and the development of Li textile techniques.
Secondly, the Center for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hainan Province organized the representative bearers, scholars from universities and experts from research institutes to assess the performance in commitment fulfilment in the previous years and analyze the opinions solicited, and make the updated plan in a pragmatic manner to address the problems encountered in the current safeguarding efforts - for example, raising the cultural and artistic accomplishments of the young and middle-aged bearers through high-level formal education so as to raise the possibility of intergenerational transmission and sustainable development of the element.
Thirdly, the relevant communities and cultural departments jointly worked together in the past safeguarding efforts to conduct 3 assessments of the representative bearers at or above the provincial level - carrying out annual performance assessment and self-evaluation on the programs with more than 1 million RMB funding from the central and provincial governments since 2013, providing facts and figures for the upgraded safeguarding plan.
In summary, this upgraded plan has been approved by all stakeholders, especially the Li communities and the Li women as the main practitioners of the element, who believe that the implementation of this upgraded plan will bring the safeguarding efforts of Li textile techniques to a new height, and vow to redouble their efforts in this cause with higher enthusiasm and make more contribution to the transmission of the Li culture.
C.3.
Institutional context
Please report on the institutional context for the local management and safeguarding of the element inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List, including:
- a. the competent body(ies) involved in its management and/or safeguarding;
- b. the organization(s) of the community or group concerned with the element and its safeguarding.
2004-12-02
Institutional context
a. the competent bodies involved in its management and safeguarding
Division of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Department of Culture, Radio, Television, Publication and Sports of Hainan Province
9 cultural and sports centers at city and county levels, including Baisha, Wuzhishan, Dongfang, Ledong, Baoting, and so on
Center for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hainan Province: responsible for safeguarding and consultancy in all the relevant provincial programs
9 centers for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage at city and county levels, including Baisha, Wuzhishan, Dongfang, Ledong, Baoting, and so on
b. the organizations of the community or group related to the element and its safeguarding
11 villages for the transmission of Li textile techniques, including Fanxiang Village, Tongshi Township, Wuzhishan City; Xifang Village, Donghe Township, Dongfang City; Fandao Village, Shiyun Township, Qiongzhong County
Hainan Ethnology Society
Hainan Institute of Ethnology
Hainan Museum
Hainan Minzu Museum
Hainan Mass Art Center
Hainan Association for Intangible Cultural Heritage Studies
Jinxiuzhibei Co. Ltd.
Hetian Tourism Co., Ltd. (Binglanggu)
Hainan Cultural Relics Import and Export Administration
Hainan Arts and Crafts Association
D
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D. Participation of communities in preparing this report
Describe the measures taken to ensure the widest possible participation of the communities, groups and, where applicable, individuals concerned as well as relevant non-governmental organizations during the process of preparing this report.
Participation of communities in preparing this report
To complete the report, a bottom-up information collection system, a timely feedback mechanism, and a multi-actor cooperation writing mode have been established among stakeholders, and a wide range of surveys and opinion solicitation have been carried out among the communities, groups, individuals and relevant non-governmental organizations in the related areas, and all-around information about the element has been collected as an important support of this report.
Firstly, the great number of practitioners of the element in relevant communities, especially the representative bearers at all levels who are engaged in the transmission, practicing and training of the Li textile techniques of the element, are the main contributors to the report as well as the important participants in the preparation of the report. They have been playing the most important role in improving the endangered status of the element and implementing the safeguarding measures stated in the nomination file. Therefore, they have the biggest say in the current status of the element and the demands for its development. Their opinions and suggestions on the specific topics such as construction of facilities, transmission, training and production-marketing cooperation, constituting the main contents of the report.
Secondly, scholars in educational institutions and experts in academic institutions gave valuable comments and suggestions on safeguarding the element from the perspectives of general education, formal education, academic research, scientific safeguarding and macro-development, especially the accurate qualitative analysis of the current overall status, constituting an integral part of this report.
Finally, the Center for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hainan Province, as the organizer of the report drafting, organized the practitioners such as Liu Xianglan and Fu Xiuying, and scholars and experts such as Zhang Yiping, professor of Hainan Normal University, and senior artists and craftsmen from Hainan Institute of Ethnology, to sort out all the collected opinions and suggestions and propose a draft report. Through the workshops, repeated discussions on the draft report, especially the qualitative conclusions and the feasibility analysis of the upgraded plan, were carried out before the report was submitted to the competent authority for approval. Thus, the official text of the report came into being.
E. Signature on behalf of the State Party
The report should be signed by an official empowered to do so on behalf of the State, and should include his or her name, title and the date of submission.
Name
XIE Jinying
Title
Director General, Bureau of International Exchange and Cooperation, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, People's Republic of China
Date
11-12-2020
Signature
Upload signed version in PDF
© 2009 by Hainan Provincial Mass Art Center 
