The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed on Wednesday China's Lum medicinal bathing of Sowa Rigpa on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The decision was announced during the 13th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held from Nov. 26 to Dec. 1 in Port Louis, Mauritius.
The Lum medicinal bathing of Sowa Rigpa is knowledge and practices concerning life, health and illness prevention and treatment among the Tibetan people in China.
Speaking after the decision to inscribe this intangible cultural heritage on the list, Chinese vice minister of culture and tourism Zhang Xu said that Lum medicinal bathing of Sowa Rigpa has an important bearing on the everyday life of people of the Tibetan ethnic group.
"This heritage not only embodies the folk experience in disease prevention and treatment, it also represents an inheritance and development of the traditional Tibetan medicine theories in modern health practices," Zhang said.
In Tibetan, "Lum" indicates the traditional knowledge and practices of bathing in natural hot springs, herbal water or steam to adjust the balance of mind and body, to ensure health and treat illnesses.
The Lum Medicinal Bathing of Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan Medicine) has been developed by the Tibetan people with a life view based on Jungwa-nga (five elements) that includes Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Space, and a view about health and illness.
The knowledge and practice is widely distributed in areas inhabited by Tibetans in China's Tibet Autonomous Region as well as provinces including Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan, according to China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
During the session of the Intergovernmental Committee, 40 requests for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity are being examined. Another seven elements are also proposed for inscription on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.
