Lesson 02

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Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

Our intangible cultural heritage is a bridge linking our past and our future. It is the way we understand the world and the means by which we shape it. It is rooted in our cultural identities and provides a foundation of wisdom and knowledge upon which to build sustainable development for all. Intangible cultural heritage is a precious asset for communities, groups, and individuals across the world. Only they can protect it and pass it on to tomorrow’s generations. The following pages offer an insight into the great diversity of humanity’s living heritage across the world. At a time of rapid and profound change, we must strengthen our resolve and take action to preserve this heritage for the benefit of future generations.

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Human Towers

In the months between spring and autumn, people in Catalonia, Spain build castells during street festivals. A castell is a tower of people standing on each other’s shoulders, often raised as high as ten levels. The formation of the bottom base or pinya is the first step in building a castell. Anybody who is willing to help, from children to senior citizens, can be part of the pinya by supporting the tower and protecting it from collapsing. When the pinya is formed, each level is added one after another. When the last person reaches the top and waves his or her hands, the crowd below shouts and cheers.

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Higher, Stronger

Building a castell means a lot to Catalonians. The knowledge about how to build castells is accumulated over generations and handed down from generation to generation within a community, and can only be learned by practice. Building one provides people with a strong sense of belonging and a heightened spirit of teamwork and cooperation.

A castell requires between 75 and 500 people to build, all of whom wear a group color. The color is a proud element of a community, and young children long for the day when they can wear a shirt and play their role in building their group’s castell. At a time when individual-based activities dominate most people’s leisure time, this Catalan practice does seem to deserve serious attention.

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Gingerbread Craft

Gingerbread broadly refers to any type of baked treat that is typically flavored with ginger and honey. The process of making a licitar, a type of Croatian gingerbread, is special because it requires skill and endurance. The dough matures for a few days, then is shaped in molds and baked, and then left for two weeks to dry. Coloring is the next step, after which a second drying takes place. Once dried, the licitars are decorated. Licitars are given as gifts for wedding guests, or they can be used as decorations. The custom of giving licitars is deeply rooted in Croatian tradition. Licitars are not only a tasty dessert, but they are also an artistic expression.

How to Make Licitars

① Prepare dough and let it mature for a few days. Then roll the dough out and shape it in molds.

② Bake the shaped dough until it turns light yellow in color.

③ Put a string between two baked licitars.

④ Dip the stringed licitars into the glaze and hang them until they dry.

⑤ Decorate each licitar with a picture, a mirror, or flowers.

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Secret Family Recipes

A licitar is uniquely Croatian because of the long history and the social role it has played. Croatians learned the recipe during the 16th century from their neighbors in the eastern Alps and went a step further to develop their own. Since then, making licitars has become a family tradition where secrets are passed down from generation to generation. In this way, every generation is able to leave its mark in each gingerbread they make. Licitar makers play an important social function, too. Gingerbread craftspeople appear at most festivals and fairs in Croatia. People watch cookies being made and socialize. In a time when local cultures are losing their unique identities, Croatian gingerbread craftsmanship provides us with a new perspective on traditional culture.

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Tugging Rituals and Games

Tugging has long been practiced as a kind of ritual in many agricultural regions across Asia. The way the ritual is performed varies from place to place. In Cambodia, the ritual involves men tugging against women. It takes place during the New Year holidays in April in the open space of a Buddhist temple or a village center. In the Philippines, punnuk is held in the Hapao River, where people tug young trees that are tightly bundled with vines and hooked to a straw figure in the middle. In Vietnam, bamboo poles can be used for tugging. In Korean juldarigi, making a rice straw rope as well as moving it to a ritual site is part of the tradition. The rope stands for a dragon which is believed to bring rain to the region.

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Tug and Pray for a Good Harvest

The tugging rituals in Asia are mostly held by rice farmers, who wish for enough rainfall and abundant harvests, so the rituals can be regarded as a form of prayer in the region. They are also performed as a way of expressing their appreciation for a good harvest. There is no intentional competitive element inherent in the rituals, and winning or losing is not emphasized. While preparing for the rituals and performing them, participants realize the importance of solidarity, cooperation, and harmony among community members.

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A House on the Road

One day while having fun traveling around the Philippines with my family, we headed to a native village, following a one-lane path scattered with rocks and mud. With tall grass blocking our view, my father suddenly hit the brakes on a sharp turn. “Wow, is that a house that they are moving?” I asked. “Yes, they’re moving an entire house with large bamboo poles. It doesn’t look like a newly built house, though,” said my father. We didn’t have the slightest clue as to why they were moving the house.

Curious about the unusual sight, my father suggested, “Why don’t we pull the car over and find out what they’re doing?” So we got out of the car and walked to the scene to look into it. “Can I ask why you’re moving the house?” I asked. And one man said, “The owner built this house down by the river. But during the rainy season, the water rose quickly and entered the house. So we all gathered to help the family relocate it to a safer place.” Amused at the sight, we waited until the house was placed in a new location. Later I found out that in the Philippines, the practice of moving a house is part of a tradition called bayanihan. It’s based on the spirit of cooperation, which lives on today.

A Little Geography

The Philippines

The Philippines is composed of about 7,500 islands. Most islands are covered in rain forests and abundant in the volcanic nature.