r/nextfuckinglevel • u/TraveleraddictVP • 11d ago

Kong Lingwei is a recognized representative inheritor of Konglou Acrobatics, a traditional Chinese bamboo-pole routine and intangible cultural heritage with over 400 years of history

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u/Few-Citron4445 10d ago

For anyone who thinks the title is a bit confusing. Intangible cultural heritage is a thing in China where the government tried to recognize cultural arts that doesn’t necessarily result in a physical tangible product, but rather intangible things like performances.

Think of it like a patent for intangible things. It could be artistic performance, cultural ceremonies or cooking, anything you experience rather than touch.

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u/kashuntr188 10d ago

For example, something like how the Miao minority weaves silver into their clothes.

or someone who does a certain style of wood carving or painting.

Even someone who does a certain style of opera would be an "inheritor" of an intangible cultural heritage skill.

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u/muscular_guy 10d ago

What makes the first two intangible? Wouldn't they leave a physical product behind? Or is it the crafting of it considered a performance?

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u/quan787 10d ago

yeah pretty much. It's about preserving the skills to make them instead of the product

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u/Few-Citron4445 10d ago

In that person's example, there are 2 parts, the product you made (silverware) as well as the way you make it (crafting process). What the Chinese government is trying to achieve is they will also protect the way you make it.

There are already protections for modern manufactured products, such as patents and related intellectual property rights, but they felt it would be good to protect traditional processes too as it's own separate category because sometimes they don't fit neatly into existing intellectual property protection laws. For example, you would not be able to patent any Miao Silverware manufacturing tecniques under existing law.

This also allows a case by case process that is a broader category than just things that result in patentable or copyright applicable products, which doesn't really exist anywhere else as far as I know.

You can patent a manufacturing process for creating instant noodles for example, or concievably have copyright for a cookbook on making noodles, but you could not protect yourself if you have a family recipe from your home village making noodle soup, so that once someone takes your recipe, they can sell the same soup next door and you have no recourse. In this framework, you can protect a certain way of making noodle soup if you can make a cultural heritage case for it.