Boon or bane?: changes in the Yi Fan Festivalof the Chinese Mulam minority after its designation as a national-level intangible cultural heritage

Abstract

There are 55 ethnic minorities (少數民族) in the People’s Republic of China, among which Mulam Minority (仫佬族) is a small one gathering in a remote town in the northern part of Guangxi Province. Every group of people has their own culture and tradition, usually culture reflects on the food, drinks, clothe, rituals and festivals, etc. The most important festival of Mulam Minority is Yi Fan Festival (依飯節), which has been designated as a national-level intangible cultural heritage in 2006. The current research will look into the changes in this particular festival after its designation in terms of both tangible and intangible aspects; also it’s a look into the local traditional culture within its context. The identity of a culture is hard to define and is also changing with time. It is when based on the defined cultural identity can a tradition advance with time without losing its authenticity. How to make conservation become a part of the development is what we are facing in the fast-changing world. Since festival consists an indispensable part of traditional culture, how to transmit it through media and how to interpret it becomes the key question. As a young stakeholder of the Mulam Minority, we should understand the opportunities, challenges, strengths and weaknesses of every change that is going to happen, and above all, carry on practicing.