Traditions facing increased threat

Experts have called for intensified government efforts to protect the cultures and languages of ethnic groups as their traditions are increasingly threatened, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The 2015 Annual Report on the Development of Ethnic Affairs in China, released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, found that the intangible cultural heritage of ethnic minorities faces mounting threats due to the loss of skills. Additionally, ethnic minority handicrafts ethnic products are being edged out by manufactured goods, the report found.

"Some ethnic minority art forms, including architecture, traditional handmade clothing and traditional food, have already disappeared. Some were faced with problems of passing on skills and dwindling markets," said Se Yin, a researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Se said the situation can only be reversed through increased government investment to revive the art forms, including encouraging the development of art industries and more efforts to boost education in ethnic areas.

A great deal of intangible cultural heritage in Yanji, Jilin province, for example, faces problems due to lack of funding. This means traditional crafts are not being passed on to the younger generation.

Yanji currently has eight art forms from Korean culture that were classified as national-level intangible cultural heritage, and only three categories have received funding from authorities, he said.

Some traditions, such as traditional Korean food, are losing their attraction to younger people due to lack of funding, he added.

A large number of ethnic minority languages are also facing threats as a growing number of ethnic minority people switch to Mandarin, according to Huang Xing, a researcher with the institute.

"Our monitor indicates that all ethnic minority languages are faced with a decline in their number of speakers," he said.

Also in the report released on Tuesday, Huang said that 90 percent of the country's ethnic minority languages were only used by 13 percent of its ethnic minority population.

The situation follows a global trend in the disappearance of ethnic minority languages.

According to UNESCO, approximately 600 languages have disappeared in the last century and are now disappearing at a rate of one language every two weeks. Up to 90 percent of the world's languages are likely to disappear before the end of this century if current trends are allowed to continue.

The development of tourism could revive some ethnic minority art forms, but some have failed to remain faithful to the original art, said Se Yin, the researcher.

"Some art forms were developed to solely profit from tourism, and the cultural implications were lost during the development process," he said.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn