While director Zhang Yimou won the 2010 lawsuit brought against him by Guizhou province's Anshun Bureau of Culture, he would likely have lost if it were to have happened after June 1 this year, when the first legislation to deal with intangible cultural heritage (ICH) law was adopted.

After the passage of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Intangible Cultural Heritage, the court may have ruled in favor of the culture bureau, which filed litigation against the director for renaming Anshun Dixi Opera - a national-level ICH category - as "Yunnan Mask Opera" in his film, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles.

The law, which the National People's Congress (NPC) approved on Feb 25, addresses the status of 45 items in six chapters. It clarifies regulations and principles pertinent to ICH's preservation, protection, investigation, representative listing, development and succession.

"It's a milestone," Minister of Culture Cai Wu says.

Women of the Yi ethnic group from Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, show their traditional attire during the 3rd Chengdu International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage.[Photo/China Daily]

While ICH has hovered in legal limbo, its protection has made great progress since China joined UNESCO's Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2004.

The country announced two batches comprising 1,028 national-level ICH entries in 2006 and 2008. And between 2007 and 2009, the government identified 1,488 national-level representative ICH inheritors.

In 2010, China became the country with the most entries - 34 - on UNESCO's ICH list.

It has nearly completed the first nationwide ICH census, which began in 2005. The census tallied nearly 870,000 ICH items, paid 1.15 million visits to ICH inheritors and collected 290,000 relevant items. It also published 140,000 volumes of documentation comprising 2 billion words.

"China has built a sophisticated ICH listing system at the national, provincial, city and county levels," the Ministry of Culture's ICH department director Ma Wenhui says.

On the eve of the ICH law's implementation, the State Council approved the third batch of national-level ICH items, adding 191 entries to the main list. It also selected 164 to add to the expanded list, which supplements the primary list, increasing the expanded list to 1,219 entries.

The moves come as ICH continues to face challenges. Globalization, industrialization and urbanization continue to devour the agrarian cultures from which ICH originates.

"Selling goods cannot save ICH, and being documented in museums cannot save ICH, either," UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage department director Cecile Duvelle says.

National Expert Committee for the Safeguarding of ICH member Tian Qing says, "Before this law, we had to rely on cultural self-consciousness, appeal and enthusiasm. Now that there is a law, those who don't protect ICH are criminals."

Tian explains that while the law stipulates that inheritors who fail to perform their succession obligations without legitimate reason can be removed from the list, it doesn't spell out dismissal procedures.

"Punitive measures related to the dismissal procedures need to be clarified to make the law more specific and feasible," Tian says.

Another potential milestone for ICH protection and development is the Chengdu Initiative. The initiative was issued by 69 government officials, scholars and ICH inheritors from around the world on June 11, the 6th National Cultural Heritage Day. It was produced at the 3rd Chengdu International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

It proposes that, "international cooperation of various forms shall be conducted by all countries at different levels to share experiences". The initiative also calls for "appeal(s) to governments, social organizations, academia and the general public to give high concern and attention to ICH and take effective safeguarding measures".

Festival participant Zhao Longlong says, "Legal protection makes us more willing to popularize our cultural treasures." The 67-year-old brought to the event the voice-activated automated shadow puppets he invented.

NPC culture office of education, science, culture and health committee director Zhu Bing, who co-drafted the legislation, says, "It's our common responsibility to safeguard ICH by law. This is integral to ICH's sustainable development."