BEIJING, Feb.23 -- A history of 5,000 years has left us an ocean of treasures, material and intangible.

    The country contains scores of distinct cultural communities that observe their own values and traditions.

    Intangible cultural heritage is a technical term used by experts, not by shamans or musicians. It generally refers to immaterial aspects of culture - ephemeral products like stories and language itself, as well as the beliefs, values, and forms of knowledge and skills that give cultures their vitality.

    This heritage can, for example, include operas, folk ballads, artisans' skills and orally conveyed knowledge such as paper-making.

    The intangibility of culture makes it difficult to preserve these elements.

    In the age of globalization, local cultures can hardly survive or flourish.

    Nevertheless, tradition has some lasting value, which lays the moral and spiritual foundation for our present and future.

    The National Museum of China is hosting an exhibition on the cream of our intangible heritage, which will run until March 16.

    This is a manifestation of the country's growing concern about promoting the survival of our traditional folklore, knowledge and artistic expressions.

    The power and tenacity of the selected traditions and their practitioners are appreciable, though the display of the treasures is not that attractive.

    The emotional dispositions of intangible heritage are so implicit that they may not be fully recognized even by the organizers.

    The cultural effects of melting are felt at every corner of the country. Easier mobility of people and ideas poses a serious challenge to ethnic minorities whose languages, customs and ideas are easily drowned out by the din of mass media catering to the interests of majority communities.

    Cultural resources seem to be endangered or disappearing in a similar way as natural resources.

    Most of them are not written and lack any tangible form.

    Every language is a masterpiece whatever the number of its speakers, its role in history, and the beauty of its poetry. When a language dies, there is a startling loss of knowledge and expression accumulated over generations.

    Three performances are staged at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing to give expressions of traditional heritage - Kunqu Opera, the art of guqin music and Urtin Duu (Mongolian long tune free-rhythm songs).

    Giving the audience a glimpse of intangible treasures, the performances offer food for thought.

    Concern about the survival of intangible heritage is warranted given the general trajectory of cultural change today.

    But culture is more than a set of performances. It rests on deep-seated values.

    Approaches to heritage protection must be developed, and might usefully raise awareness about the endangered status of many ancient practices. One of them might be to document endangered heritage in digital form.

    When coming up with a list of intangible treasures, local tourist authorities have been busy digging out commercial benefits.

    A ritual celebration may be seen as an under-exploited asset prompting commercial investment.

    This may bring funding support, but it may also destroy the very meaning of the tradition, turning it into an activity staged for tourists.

    The very recognition of the value of intangible cultural resources is initiating the conflicts.

    Policies must be implemented if we hope to save the surviving fraction of our culture diversity. They should ensure that ethnic groups can live a decent life in their traditional homelands and that they are granted a say in decisions regarding their education, natural resources and local governance.

    Intangible as they are labelled, these treasures are not insignificant.

    To best preserve them is to help them continue to inspire our future generations.

    (Source: China Daily)