Heritage debate ensues after 'monkey buskers' convicted  

河南新野4名猴戏艺人被拘 国家级“非遗”引热议

不用搭台，无需舞美灯光，只一块空场，敲一敲锣鼓，挥一挥鞭子，拽住猴绳子，吆喝一嗓子，便是一出好戏。这画面便是俗称“耍猴儿”的河南新野猴戏，其历史可以追溯到东汉。可最近，在专业耍猴两千年后，新野耍猴艺人首度因“非法运输珍贵野生动物”成被告。连日来，4名河南省新野县的猴戏艺人被拘引发热议。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- A court in northeast China has convicted four "monkey busking trick" performers, arousing nationwide concern about the protection of intangible cultural heritages, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

The traveling buskers were picked up in Mudanjiang city, Heilongjiang province, while performing with six trained monkeys in July. Police said the buskers lacked wild animal transportation certifications.

Two months later, they were convicted of "illegally transporting rare wild animals" by a local court.

The buskers are from Henan province's Xinye county, birthplace of the tradition of "monkey busking tricks." The street performance dates back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 AD - 220 AD) and was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008 by the State Council.

The incident has triggered doubts over how such a tradition could be considered a crime.

This intangible cultural heritage needs space to survive, according to the newspaper, adding that only four or five hundred performers remain.

But others said the traditional way of performing did not preserve and protect the intangible cultural heritage, citing frequent reports of performers abusing monkeys.