Intangible protection is not only inheritance but also enlightenment.

Exotic flowers, animals and birds, life celebrations … In the Li brocade interwoven with red, yellow, blue and white, warm fingers and delicate silk thread weave together the craftsman’s pursuit of beauty and respect for tradition, inheriting skills and conveying wisdom and emotion. Recently, the traditional spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidery skills of Li nationality have been transferred from UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Urgent Need of Protection to the List of Representative Works of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This progress means that this 3000-year-old skill has grown after protection and development, with more and more inheritors and stronger survival.

　　2024 marks the 20th anniversary of China’s accession to the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage. In the past 20 years, China has made universally recognized achievements in the field of intangible cultural heritage protection, and the transcripts of intangible cultural heritage protection in China are shining. Forty-four projects have been listed in UNESCO’s representative list of intangible cultural heritage, ranking first in the world, which is not only a high praise for China’s intangible cultural heritage protection work, but also an affirmation of China’s efforts to maintain global cultural diversity. At the domestic level, the State Council has published 1,557 national intangible cultural heritage projects, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has identified 3,056 national intangible cultural heritage inheritors, and there are more than 100,000 national, provincial, municipal and county intangible cultural heritage list projects. These data are undoubtedly the best proof of the richness and protection of intangible cultural heritage resources in China.

　　It is particularly worth mentioning that China has innovatively established 23 national cultural and ecological protection (experimental) zones, which provides strong support for the overall regional protection of intangible cultural heritage and creates a good ecological environment for its inheritance and development. Like the traditional spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidery skills of the Li nationality, the Year of Qiang has recently been transferred from the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Urgent Need of Protection to the List of Masterpieces of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Qiang nationality is known as the "living fossil" in the evolution history of the Chinese nation, and its ancient culture has been completely protected in the Qiang cultural and ecological protection zone. The successful practice of these protected areas has not only promoted the deepening of domestic intangible cultural heritage protection, but also provided valuable experience and enlightenment for international intangible cultural heritage protection.

　　The in-depth promotion of intangible cultural heritage protection can not be separated from the leadership of the government and the extensive participation of all sectors of society. The 14th Five-Year Plan and the long-term goal outline for 2035 clearly put forward the important task of strengthening the systematic protection of intangible cultural heritage, and the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee also made important arrangements for the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage. By building a list of representative intangible cultural heritage projects, perfecting the inheritor system, promoting regional overall protection and speeding up the construction of heritage experience facilities, China’s intangible cultural heritage protection and inheritance system has been improved day by day, and the popularization degree has been significantly improved, injecting new vitality into economic and social development.

　　Intangible heritage protection is not only related to the inheritance and development of traditional culture, but also to the nourishment and enlightenment of modern society. As an important part of Chinese excellent traditional culture, intangible cultural heritage originates from people’s production practice, is an important content to meet people’s spiritual and cultural needs, enhance people’s livelihood and well-being, and is also an important kinetic energy to promote high-quality economic and social development. Rural revitalization is a broad stage for the protection of intangible heritage, which gives intangible heritage a more vivid practical scene and makes traditional skills glow in the wave of rural revitalization. The two complement each other and will surely weave a colorful picture of rural cultural revitalization together. (Zhang Qing)