Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a vivid carrier of a nation’s cultural genes, a living testimony to the continuous inheritance of Chinese civilization, and bears the skills and cultural context passed down from generation to generation. China has established a sound four-level ICH list system, boasting numerous world ICH projects and inheritors at all levels. However, with the rising popularity of ICH, the chaos of artificial ICH has quietly emerged. These false ICH projects deviate from the essence of inheritance, degenerate into commercial tools, and seriously erode the cultural ecology. Only by clarifying the chaos, exploring the root causes, and strengthening governance can we safeguard the authenticity of ICH and ensure the steady progress of cultural inheritance.
Chaos Abounds: Multiple False Scenarios of Artificial ICH
The chaos of artificial ICH presents a diversified trend, with the core being commercial speculation in the name of "ICH," which violates the core definition of ICH as a heritage passed down from generation to generation. The most typical is the chaos of certificate agency services. "ICH inheritor" certificates and "ICH master" titles are sold at marked prices online, which can be obtained quickly for a few hundred to tens of thousands of yuan. Intermediaries can even fabricate skills out of thin air and forge application materials, with the issuing organizations mostly being fake social groups, having no connection with the official certification system.
In addition, false skill and brand speculation are common. Some enterprises make up "ancient ICH techniques" and package modern craftsmanship as traditional skills for profit, such as falsely claiming that tea is made using "ICH stir-frying techniques." Some merchants steal genuine ICH skills and crowd out the living space of inheritors through industrial mass production—a typical case being the Nanjing velvet flower infringement case, where illegal actors made tens of millions of yuan in profits. What’s worse, some foreign arts or modern creations are arbitrarily labeled as "national-level ICH," completely confusing public perception.
Root Cause Analysis: Dual Absence of Interest Drive and Supervision Cognition
The emergence of artificial ICH chaos is mainly driven by excessive pursuit of commercial interests. The traffic dividends and policy support behind ICH have tempted some individuals and enterprises to cut corners, realize quick profits through false packaging, reduce ICH to a profit-making tool, and ignore the essence and responsibility of cultural inheritance. At the same time, the high threshold and professional process for ICH evaluation make it difficult for the general public to distinguish between true and false, providing an opportunity for false publicity.
The dual absence of supervision and cognition has exacerbated the spread of chaos. On the one hand, supervision in some regions is insufficient, and there is no regular mechanism for investigating and punishing false ICH, allowing the agency industrial chain to operate secretly. On the other hand, the public has a vague understanding of the concept of ICH, mistakenly equating "old crafts" and "commercial packaging" with ICH, which indirectly encourages the spread of false ICH. In addition, the long cycle of the official certification process makes it difficult to respond quickly to market chaos, leaving room for speculators to operate.
Harm of Chaos: Eroding the Cultural Ecology and Foundation of Inheritance
The proliferation of artificial ICH causes multiple harms to cultural inheritance and the market ecology. First, it dilutes the value of ICH. When false ICH floods the market, public trust in ICH declines, truly valuable ICH projects that need protection are neglected, and the persistence and efforts of inheritors are ignored, leading to a weakened inheritance chain. Second, it disrupts market order. Relying on low costs and high publicity, false ICH squeezes the living space of genuine ICH, exacerbating the dilemma of "bad money driving out good money."
More seriously, artificial ICH breaks the continuity of cultural inheritance and deviates from the core of ICH as "living inheritance." It ignores the historical heritage and humanistic spirit behind ICH, only pursuing short-term interests, resulting in the dissolution of cultural connotation. In the long run, it will damage the national cultural ecology, hinder the orderly inheritance of Chinese cultural context, and even undermine the international credibility of Chinese ICH, burying the true value of ICH.
Targeted Measure
China’s Practices and Achievements in Rectifying Artificial ICH
Faced with the chaos of artificial ICH, China has focused on the core of "protecting genuine ICH and cracking down on false ICH," introduced a number of targeted governance measures, and achieved remarkable results. First, it has improved the supervision system and strengthened source control, clarifying the standards and processes for ICH application and certification, severely cracking down on illegal activities such as false applications and certificate agency services, shutting down many illegal intermediary organizations, and investigating and handling multiple ICH infringement and speculation cases, forming a strong deterrent.
Second, it has standardized the certification and publicity mechanism, optimized the dynamic management of the four-level ICH list, established a mechanism for investigating and removing false ICH, and publicized ICH projects and inheritor information through official platforms to facilitate public inquiry and verification, clarifying the boundary between true and false ICH. In addition, it has strengthened popular science publicity, popularizing ICH knowledge through media, ICH exhibitions, campus lectures and other forms, guiding the public to establish a correct understanding of ICH and reject false ICH speculation.
At the same time, it has increased support for genuine ICH, helping ICH inheritors adhere to and innovate their skills through financial subsidies, skill inheritance training, market-oriented guidance and other methods, enabling genuine ICH to gain more attention and recognition, and fundamentally squeezing the living space of false ICH. Today, the chaos of false ICH speculation has been effectively curbed, the ICH market has gradually returned to rationality, and the cultural inheritance ecology has continued to improve.
Return to Authenticity: The Core and Original Aspiration of ICH Inheritance
Rectifying artificial ICH is essentially safeguarding the original aspiration of cultural inheritance and highlighting the true value of ICH. The core of ICH is never "titles" or "gimmicks," but the skills passed down from generation to generation, the contained humanistic spirit and national memory, and a living culture that needs to be adhered to, inherited and innovated. It is not a tool for profit, but a spiritual treasure of Chinese civilization and a cultural link connecting the past, present and future.
Genuine ICH inheritance has always been inseparable from the persistence of inheritors and the joint protection of society. Cracking down on artificial ICH is to make room for genuine ICH, allowing the skills tempered by time to continue and the cultural genes behind ICH to be inherited. Only by adhering to authenticity, rejecting impetuosity, cracking down on falsehood and supporting truth can we make ICH truly come alive and be passed on, highlighting the profound heritage and contemporary charm of Chinese civilization, and enabling cultural inheritance to thrive in persistence.
