Personal resume

Chao Ge Jin，doctor of law，academician of the Academy of Social Sciences，researcher of National literature Institute，who has been teaching in foreign universities and research institutions and published dozens of publications，papers. He chaired or participated in the projects supported by the United Nations Educational，scientific and Cultural Organization（UNESCO）and the State Council system several departments， the national development and Reform Commission，the Ministry of culture，the China Federation of literature and other ministries .

Good afternoon！ The topic of my speech is ethical principle. The ecology I understand is the combination of natural environment and social culture. However，it may not be good enough for us to abide by the ethical principle in intangible cultural heritage protection. So I like to make a few comments on this issue here.

Principles of intangible cultural heritage protection include “non-material cultural heritage convention”，a series of international documents on human rights，etc. The 10th intergovernmental meeting on intangible cultural heritage protection of UNESCO was held in Namibia of Africa on November 30，2015，where 12 ethical principles were established，with great guiding significance in practice and correcting inaccurate perceptions of specialist and social friends in the intangible cultural heritage protection. Let’s focus just on the leading points.

Firstly，individuals and community play a major role in intangible cultural heritage protection. All right，so now we ask ourselves，have we done well when we create and implement plans？ I think the answer is NO.

Secondly，the individuals and community’s rights of inheriting intangible cultural heritage should be recognized and respected. In other words，they can decide if they want to pass down the heritage，but we’re kind of outsiders really.

Thirdly，we should respect and appreciate each other in the international exchange activities of intangible cultural heritage. Because of that there are different cultures in different countries or regions，we sometimes feel puzzled when we look at other culture with “colorblind glasses”. To solve the problems，UNESCO takes measures for the prevention and elimination of people’s confusion，for example，some terms like outstanding，specific，unique and original should not be overused to describe your own culture.

Fourthly，activities should be transparent and open through negotiating with the holders. That is，we should let holders know when some social groups give support to local projects of intangible cultural heritage. Even in the war，the tradition of inheritance should be respected，though there are limits to spread to some extent.

Fifthly，the judgment and identification of heritage value is mainly finished by the holder himself and community groups without external influences，while other heritages are indentified by expert groups，which is a typical characteristics of intangible cultural heritage.

However，the ethical principle is not only the judgment on the outside world，but also the requirement of communities and heritage holders. Community groups and individuals have the obligation to assess the immediate or potential threats to their heritage，and then protect well. In addition，community has responsibility to prevent or reduce over-commercialization and negative phenomenon in the intangible cultural heritage protection.

Culture diversity and identification should be well respected. Gender equality，participation of young people should be a consideration in the evaluation and protection of intangible cultural heritage without violating people’s wishes. In short，interpretation of intangible cultural heritage protection focuses on the cultural environment and ecology，which plays an important role in human civilization，human peace and sustainable development.

Thank you！