Welcome to Hei longjiang: the Introduction of the Hei longjiang Cultural Heritage

Hei longjiang is a multi-ethnic province on the northeast border of China as well as an immigration one with the Han ethnic group accounting for more than 90 percent of the total population. Though the national minorities here only have small population, they are of great diversity, mainly including 10 minorities which live here generation after generation, such as Manchu, Hui, Korean, Mogol, Daur, Oroqen, Ewenki, Kirgiz, Hezhe, Xibe. And owing to the compact community where each ethnic group people live together, their History Flux and Folk Custom could have been handed down. Among these minorities, the Manchu, Mongol, Oroqen, Ewenki, Daur and so on have plentiful myths inherited from generation to generation. And Hezhe, Oroqen, Daur possess the long heroic epic which is the valuable cultural heritage of Hei longjiang that handed down in the form of rap, for instance, the yimakan of Hezhe, the mosukun of Orenqen, the urchun of Daur.

Since modern times, Hei longjiang province, the most significant multi-ethnic border of china, has gradually formed its unique civilization feature of border and nation which shows the compatibility of the Western and Chinese cultures. In early Qing dynasty, the immigration from the area inside the Shan Haiguan pass brought along the great Chinese tradition that mixed with the aboriginal culture after the lifting of the ban of this place where originally lived the exile people and was known as “Long Xing land”. And from the early 20th century, Hei longjiang, especially the port of Harbin, Hei he and Sui fenhe, has become the centre of international business. And the civilization of different countries and different nations from western countries, Russia, Japan, Germany, Holand, France alike, impacts and intermingles with the culture of Hei longjiang, which embodies in many aspects such as architecture, religion, education, culture and health, etc, and has become the important part of the civilization of Hei longjiang.

And the intangible cultural resource of Hei longjiang is very rich. Some has been used to create many wonderful literary and art works, and some has produced social and economic benefits in tourism and culture industry. In March 27, 2007, the officer of the government of Hei longjiang has announced 57 provincial-level intangible cultural heritage items for the first batch. Among them, those with the mark “★” are national intangible cultural heritage items.