Indigenising Intangible Cultural Heritage: Comparison and Interpretation of the Concept of ICH in China

Understanding the concept of intangible cultural heritage is a theme currently attracting a lot of attention in academic circles. Based on the definitions in UNESCO's Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and on the Interim Measures for Applying for the National Representative Works of Intangible Cultural Heritage issued by the Chinese State Council, this article attempts to give an in-depth interpretation of the primary meaning and localised transformation of intangible cultural heritage. On the basis of this analysis, the concept of intangible cultural heritage is placed in a Chinese context and a comparison is made with the present academic conceptual framework so as to facilitate an understanding of the validity of the ICH concept for the Chinese.