Recently, Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism unveiled the sixth batch of provincial list of recommended projects for the intangible cultural heritage representative project list. Among them, Hengshan county umbrella-making craft (Yuxi oil-paper (cloth) umbrella craft) and national instrument craft (Hengshan Shigu ethnic instrument craft) projects were shortlisted.

Yuxi oil-paper (cloth) umbrella craft is one of the crafts umbrella schools in China, and the special “Manchuan” craft of ribs is extremely rare in southern Hunan. Its main craft respects history and the paper-umbrella presents a strong retro style which fully shows local history and humanity, as well as mountains and rivers. In 2020, Yuxi oil-paper (cloth) umbrella craft was included in the county-level intangible cultural heritage protection list, and in 2022, it was listed in the municipal intangible cultural heritage protection list.

Shigu ethnic instrument craft of Hengshan County has a long history, of which the hulusi, with a long production history, can be traced back to as early as the pre-Qin era. Hulusi is evolved and reformed from hulusheng, and still maintains the relic system of ancient instruments in structure. In 2019, Shigu ethnic instrument craft of Hengshan County was included in the county-level “intangible cultural heritage” protection project, and in 2022, it was listed in the municipal “intangible cultural heritage” protection project.

Translator: Jing