The pictorial version of the Tibet Autonomous Region(TAR) Intangible Cultural Heritage(ICH) Directory was formally published recently, giving a complete account of each of Tibet’s ICH items for the first time, China Tibet News reported.

According to the TAR Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, the 150,000-word directory took six years to compile from 2009 to 2015, when it was finally published. It systematically introduces areas, historical origins, art forms and cultural values as well as their current endangered status of Tibet's 323 intangible cultural heritage items with ten categories including traditional music, dance, art, medicine, folk customs.

Ngawang Tenzin, deputy director of the Center said, "The Chinese Government has provided a lot of support and assistance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. Now almost all the people in the region have involved in this endeavor. The Directory is very readable for those eager to understand intangible cultural heritage in Tibet, and it also provides scholars with sources for their research."

Tibetan opera and The Epic of King Gesar have already been included in the list of the UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In addition, a total of Tibet’s 89 projects and 68 representative inheritors have been included in the national intangible cultural heritage list with 323 projects and 350 representative inheritors in the regional ICH list, according to Ngawang Tenzin.

Surveying the intangible cultural heritages takes a long time, but we’ve been doing it consistently," said Ngawang Tenzin."Moreover, every year we take Cultural Heritage Day, traditional festivals and local art festivals such as Shoton, Tibetan New Year and others as a great platform to showcase intangible cultural heritages."

It is reported that the TAR Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center is putting together a book on the ICH inheritors, which is expected be available by 2016.