Hezhe people perform Hezhen Yimakan storytelling in Jiamusi, Northest China's Heilongjiang Province. Photo: VCG

During an event celebrating the inclusion of China's "Hezhen Yimakan storytelling" to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity at the Tongjiang ICH digital exhibition hall in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on December 18, Wu Baochen, a national-level inheritor of the ICH, told reporters that Yimakan is the root and soul of the Hezhe people and that he looks forward to passing on the heritage to more young people in the future. 

At a session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in New Delhi, India, on December 11, China's "Hezhen Yimakan storytelling" was successfully moved from the Urgent Safeguarding List to the Representative List of ICH of Humanity.

Wu Jing, daughter of Wu Baochen and also an inheritor of the ICH, told the Global Times that she was overjoyed to hear the inspiring news.

It was also selected for UNESCO's Register of Good Safeguarding Practices, which aims to provide useful experience and examples of how to overcome challenges in the transmission of living heritage. It marks the first time that an ICH has achieved both a transfer and an inscription on the good safeguarding practices simultaneously.

Blending narrative and song without instrumental accompaniment, Hezhen Yimakan storytelling is an age-old oral tradition passed down through generations of the Hezhe ethnic group living in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. 

Narrated in the Hezhe language and performed in a mixed prose-and-verse style, it conveys the group's history, heroic tales, fishing and hunting practices, rituals, and moral norms. 

Serving functions such as documenting history, educating younger generations and providing community entertainment, the tradition has retained its vitality over the centuries, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

With this new inclusion, China now counts 45 items inscribed on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage lists and registers, ranking first in the world in total number.

14-year journey

Wu told the Global Times that the unique appeal of Yimakan lies in its nature as a living, orally transmitted epic of the Hezhe people. 

"It encapsulates the survival wisdom of a fishing-and-hunting community, its reverence for nature, and shared memories within the ethnic group, all woven into this narrative art form. 

As the Hezhe ethnic group has a spoken language but no written script, Yimakan has served as a vital means of preserving and passing on the language itself," said Wu, who teaches Yimakan at a local primary school.

As one of China's smallest ethnic minority groups with a population of around 5,000, the Hezhe people live mainly in the areas around the Heilongjiang, Songhua and Wusuli rivers. 

The ancient oral tradition, which once faced the risk of extinction, has undergone a notable revitalization.

The ancient singing and speaking art was listed as a national ICH in 2006. 

When it was included on the Urgent Safeguarding List in 2011, only five inheritors were able to perform a complete Yimakan epic.  

From formulating 18 regulations for the protection of Yimakan and collecting over 1,000 hours of audiovisual materials, to launching regular courses at primary schools, the local authorities have established a four-tier safeguarding and transmission system spanning the national, provincial, municipal, and county levels, according to a press release from the Tongjiang ICH Protection Center.

After 14 years of efforts, the number of Yimakan inheritors has risen from five to over 120,  the release said. 

In addition, online Hezhe language courses and oral-history archives documenting inheritors' narratives have jointly created a digital framework for safeguarding Yimakan. 

Global narrative

Wu Jing, who started teaching Yimakan from 2019, noted that her Yimakan courses are not limited to Hezhe people but students of all ethnic groups who are interested.

"I remember once, when I was performing Yimakan storytelling for a group of children, they watched my performance with rapt attention. When I finished singing, they gave me a big round of applause and said, 'Teacher, we want to learn it too.' I was deeply moved at that moment," she said. 

Wu plans to build more on- and off-campus platforms for presentation and display, and encourage students to take part in performances. "I will also share Yimakan videos on social media platforms so that more people can learn about it," she added. 

Technological advancements have also played a role in promoting the transmission of Yimakan. "We have leveraged modern digital technologies such as VR and AR to create immersive, interactive, and experiential digital exhibition halls for the oral art," said Li Rui, deputy director of the Tongjiang ICH Protection Center. 

"The digital database of the heritage will be continuously updated with the Hezhe people's narrative arts, mythological tales, short stories, and folk songs," Li said. 

Wu Xuan, deputy director of the Heilongjiang ICH Protection Center, said accessible publications will be compiled and cross-regional transmission activities will be organized to explore the historical and humanistic value of Yimakan, elevating its stories into a global narrative about cultural resilience, innovation, and shared heritage.