Recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed “Spring Festival: Social Practices of the Chinese people in Celebration of Traditional New Year” on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity. The Spring Festival holds immeasurable significance for the Chinese people, representing an enduring link to the nation's cultural roots, strengthening national cohesion, and contributing to the world's cultural diversity with its uniquely Chinese essence.
A millennia-old tradition rekindling cultural enthusiasm
The Spring Festival is a traditional Chinese festival with the most profound connotation, the richest content, the largest number of participants and the most extensive influence. Its inclusion in UNESCO's list is due to its profound historical and cultural significance. Tracing back over 4,000 years to the legend of Emperor Shun and over 2,100 years to Emperor Wu of Han's institutionalization of the New Year, the festival has played a vital role in maintaining emotional ties among individuals, families, society, and the nation while perpetuating Chinese civilization.
The Spring Festival incorporates various folk customs and ICH practices. Notable contributions have been made to this successful application: Sichuan Zigong Lantern Festival was included as a representative project; Hebi Junxian's Lunar New Year Temple Fair and Pingdingshan's Baofeng Ma Street Book Fair in Henan were written in the application text as "New Year markets, folk performances, temple fairs and lantern festivals" activities; Yuwang Temple Festival from Huguang guild hall in Yuzhong district of Chongqing was showcased in the application video.
Following the festival's successful inclusion, regions across China have launched celebratory events, reigniting cultural enthusiasm with a focus on ICHs. For instance, Langzhong Ancient Town in Sichuan hosted vibrant festivities, while Shanxi announced innovative cultural tourism products that integrated traditional customs with new methods, new scenes and modern carriers, offering immersive "Spring Festival" charm to visitors.
Comprehensive protection demonstrating cultural allure
Chinese ICH is an integral part of China's traditional culture, reflecting the vitality of its enduring civilization. Since joining UNESCO's Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2004, China has established a distinctive ICH protection system that aligns with international practices and reflects the nation's unique circumstances. By the end of 2024, China has 44 cultural elements or practices recognized by UNESCO as ICH of Humanity，ranking first in the world.
In recent years, China's cultural and tourism departments have actively explored the values of China's excellent traditional culture embodied in the Spring Festival, widely conducting practices of inheritance and dissemination activities for the festival, and continuously showcasing the charm of traditional Chinese culture. Meanwhile, China's intellectual property(IP) management authorities have been deeply involved in promoting the conclusion of the World Intellectual Property Organization Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources, and Associated Traditional Knowledge. They have established and coordinated mechanisms for mandatory disclosure of genetic resources and related traditional knowledge in the patent field, contributing to enhancing the effectiveness, transparency, and quality of the patent system in protecting genetic resources and traditional knowledge.
How can ICH protection be further strengthened after the successful inscription of the Spring Festival? "The IP system is an important means of protecting ICHs and promoting its inheritance. The intangible nature of the protected subject matter creates an intrinsic connection between ICH and IP. Improving the IP protection system for ICH to better safeguard its creative transformation and innovative development is also an important objective of this year's amendment to the ICH Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress," said Zhang Zhenyu, Member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), in an interview with CIPN. Zhang added, "The ICH Law provides comprehensive and strong legal protection for the preservation and inheritance of China's ICH. And it should be noted that, to achieve the goals of inheritance and protection of Spring Festival ICHs, it is necessary to advance systematic efforts in strict law enforcement, impartial judiciary, and widespread compliance with the law by the public."
Spring Festival goes global for cultural and commercial growth
Nowadays, the culture of the Spring Festival becomes known and loved by people of different races and languages.
At a recent routine press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian showed that the Spring Festival embodies peace, amity and harmony which are values cherished by the Chinese nation and civilization, which makes it a festival that is meaningful for China and can be enjoyed by the world. The festival is a public holiday in almost 20 countries and celebrated in various ways by about one-fifth of humanity. In 2023, the 78th United Nations (UN) General Assembly decided to list the Lunar New Year as a UN floating holiday. Since then, more and more Chinese ICH elements have crossed seas and mountains, becoming widely accepted, recognized, and appreciated as symbols of Chinese culture.
In addition to sharing traditional customs with the world, the Spring Festival has also facilitated Chinese enterprises in sending New Year goods overseas, promoting cultural exchanges and strengthening trade relations. Ahead of the Year of the Dragon, Biluochun tea pastries, low-sugar highland barley whole-wheat pastries, and mixed-grain pastries produced in Suzhou, Jiangsu, became best-selling snacks overseas. Tea from Yiyang, Hunan, was exported to over ten countries, and a time-honored fermented bean curd company in Shanghai had its production lines fully booked with export orders.
According to Song Junhua, Director of the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Research Center at Sun Yat-sen University and a professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, the "going global" of Chinese ICHs is an intrinsic requirement of ICH protection. To promote the high-quality global development of Chinese ICHs, it is necessary to establish a scientifically efficient multi-party collaboration mechanism, develop a robust legal framework for international ICH dissemination, and create a talent cultivation system for ICH communication.
Before long, a vibrant and festive Spring Festival scene will unfold worldwide, reflecting the harmony of different civilizations and the mutual understanding and friendship among nations. The stories and spirit of China embedded in its ICHs will present themselves to the world.