Seventh Meeting of China-Japan-Korea Cultural Exchange Forum

The seventh meeting of the China-Japan-Korea Cultural Exchange Forum was held in Gyeongju of the Republic of Korea (ROK) from September 20 to 23， 2011. An 11-member Chinese delegation including Liu Deyou， former Vice Minister of Culture， Jing Dunquan， Vice President of the China-Japan Friendship Association (CJFA)， and Feng Zuoku， Vice President of the China-ROK Friendship Association， visited the ROK and attended the Forum.

The Forum， jointly initiated by the China-ROK Friendship Association， the CJFA， the Korea-Japan Cultural Exchange Council (KJCEC)， Korea-China Friendship Association (KCFA)， the Japan-China Friendship Association (JCFA) and the Japan Foundation (JF)， aims to promote cultural exchanges among the people of the three countries. The participants are relatively permanent. Each side appoints three representatives as key members of the Forum， and among them one is the convener. At present， the conveners of the Chinese， Japanese and Korean sides are respectively Liu Deyou， Kazuo Ogura， President of the JF， and Jeong Gujong， Chairman of the KJCEC. The three countries have taken turns to hold the Forum since 2005.

The theme of the seventh meeting was the “Plan on Promoting Cultural Exchanges in East Asia”， and the topics for discussion were “Disaster and Culture” and “Cultural Exchanges Conducted and Participated by the Masses”.

Disaster and Culture

One of the main topics for discussion at this meeting was “Disaster and Culture”. The catastrophic earthquake in eastern Japan in 2011 made the people reconsider the challenges traditional culture and human civilization were confronted. For example， Kazuo Ogura said the earthquake had ruined important cultural relics in some parts of Japan. Some villages had disappeared completely. The deaths of those who had inherited and could pass on intangible culture caused irretrievable loss to the intangible cultural heritage such as traditional celebration ceremonies， dances， etc. Human civilization confronted severe challenges brought about by natural disasters. How to salvage and protect human cultural heritage had become a pressing task.

Facing natural disasters， he said， culture not only needed to be salvaged and protected， but also should play a positive role. To the people in the disaster-hit areas， besides material aid， spiritual support was vitally important and for this， culture’s role should be brought into full play. In light of the earthquake in Japan， he talked about his personal understanding about disaster and culture. First， disasters arouse people’s awareness of taking precautions against natural calamities and paying attention to protection of culture. Second， disasters gave artists inspiration for creation and， thus， excellent cultural works would appear. Third， ordinary people should be encouraged to take part in saving and protecting cultural relics， particularly intangible cultural heritage in the disaster-hit areas. Fourth， the government and media should adopt a more positive attitude in disclosing information about disasters.

His speech evoked much response. Not only the disaster-affected country， but the whole world and whole of humankind suffer from losses caused by natural disasters. Thus， to accelerate the steps of saving human cultural heritage was a common responsibility. In this respect， China， Japan and the ROK should strengthen exchanges and cooperation and play active roles.

Cultural Exchanges Participated by the Masses

The representatives of the three countries， while fully understanding the importance of cultural exchanges， put stress on encouraging ordinary people to participate and play an active role. In recent years， their friendship organizations have carried out many public cultural exchange activities to raise public awareness of the importance of such exchanges and sense of participation. The representatives agreed to strengthen future cooperation in the following aspects: first， for protection of cultural heritage， the three countries should collect ideas and talents from the masses and put forward non-governmental constructive programs of protection; second， in the art field， the three countries should find the common aspects of their arts， make comparative studies and conduct exchanges; third， the three countries should strengthen cooperation in environmental protection; fourth， in tourism， the three countries should cooperate in exploring mutual tourist routes.

The representatives also pointed out that ordinary people should work together with the government and media to jointly boost cultural development and prosperity. They particularly emphasized the importance of the participation of youth.

Inheritance and Protection of Cultural Heritage

Artists of traditional operas of the three countries were invited to give an entirely new sort of show at the outdoor theatre of the Gyeongju World Culture Expo. This included Japan’s Noh drama， China’s Peking Opera and face-changing act in Sichuan Opera， and Korea’s mask dance drama. Noh， with a history of about 700 years， is one of Japan’s most important traditional operas combining song， dance and farce. The Korean mask dance drama with a combination of several artistic forms such as chanting， dialogue and dance has a dramatic feature. The face-changing act in Sichuan Opera is a unique art to reveal the emotional change of the characters through multiple instantaneous changes of the facial makeup. Peking Opera is one of the most influential Han ethnic group’s operas in China. All have been listed as World Intangible Cultural Heritage typically representative of the drama culture of the three countries. They share many things in common while also possessing distinctive national features. The show won loud acclaim from the audience. This was a positive attempt that the Forum had made in promoting art exchanges among the three countries.

The participants at the meeting also enjoyed Bansori， ROK’s intangible cultural heritage. They visited two World Cultural Heritage sites—Bulguksa Temple and Haein Temple’s Sutra Collection Pavilion that has a collection of 80，000 Buddhist texts in Gyeongju， and learned precious experience from the ROK in protection of cultural heritage.