TL;DR: Under Decree 39/2024/NĐ-CP, intangible cultural heritage in Vietnam is inventoried across seven types: language and script, folk literature, folk performing arts, social customs and beliefs, traditional crafts, traditional festivals, and folk knowledge. Traditional crafts are the fifth type; folk knowledge is the seventh. This classification is the legal basis for inventory, documentation, and nomination at national and UNESCO levels.
Where are the seven types of intangible cultural heritage defined?
The seven types are set out in Decree No. 39/2024/NĐ-CP, issued on 16 April 2024, which governs measures to manage, protect, and promote intangible cultural heritage in UNESCO Lists and the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Decree states that inventory work is carried out for seven types, and this is the classification framework used consistently in scientific dossiers, inventory records, and nomination files.
Two layers of text need to be distinguished. The Cultural Heritage Law (amended) provides the general concept and management principles, while Decree 39/2024/NĐ-CP specifies the list of seven types for inventory purposes. During the discussion session at the 8th sitting of the 15th National Assembly (afternoon of 23 October 2024), delegates assessed the draft Cultural Heritage Law (amended) as an important step forward in improving the management, protection, and promotion of cultural heritage, and asked for clarification of the concept of intangible cultural heritage at risk of fading or being lost.
What are the seven types?
Decree 39/2024/NĐ-CP defines each type based on how a community expresses culture, not on the final product. The table below summarises the definition and identifying examples.
| No. | Type | Core content under Decree 39/2024/NĐ-CP | Identifying example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Language and script | Cultural expression through language and characters to convey information, transmit knowledge, memory, and social-cultural values | Spoken and written languages of ethnic minorities |
| 2 | Folk literature | Works created by the community and transmitted orally across generations: stories, legends, epics, folk songs, proverbs, folk singing, rhyming verses, riddles | Epics, folk tales, folk songs |
| 3 | Folk performing arts | Performances created and practised by the community: music, singing, dance, theatrical acts | Quan Ho folk singing, lullabies, M'Nong folk songs |
| 4 | Social customs and beliefs | Regular ritual activities expressing beliefs tied to important events, perceptions of the world and history | Forest worship rituals, health-praying rituals |
| 5 | Traditional crafts | Handicraft practice and creation with techniques, forms, decoration, and materials containing indigenous elements, transmitted across generations, producing unique products | Salt making, conical hat making, Pia cake making |
| 6 | Traditional festivals | A collection of ritual cultural expressions practised cyclically in a related cultural space | Boat racing festivals, temple and communal house festivals |
| 7 | Folk knowledge | Cultural expression formed from the community's relationship with the natural and social environment for adaptation and survival: experience, knowledge, and skills for harmonious conduct | Knowledge of medicinal plants, farming, interaction with nature |
Which group do traditional crafts belong to?
Traditional crafts are the fifth of the seven types. This is a common question because many people still place crafts under "art" or "economy", but under Decree 39/2024/NĐ-CP the identifying criteria rest on three points: handicraft practice, indigenous elements in technique and materials, and transmission from generation to generation to create unique products bearing community identity.
These three criteria distinguish traditional crafts from industrial production. A facility making conical hats by machine, with uniform products and no family secrets, does not fall under this type. Conversely, the Sai Nga conical hat craft in Cẩm Khê district, Phú Thọ province, was recognised as national intangible cultural heritage in 2020, alongside salt making in Bạc Liêu and Pia cake making in Sóc Trăng. All three belong to the traditional crafts type.
It is worth noting that what is inscribed is not the product but the practising community together with the craft space and knowledge. This is why craft heritage dossiers are usually tied to a specific locality rather than inscribing a craft in general terms.
Which group does folk knowledge belong to?
Folk knowledge is the seventh type and the most abstract of the seven. The Decree defines it as cultural expression formed from the historical interaction between a community and its natural and social environment for adaptation and survival, expressed through experience, knowledge, and skills for flexible, harmonious conduct with nature and society.
Unlike traditional crafts, folk knowledge does not necessarily produce a tangible product. The focus is the body of knowledge. For example, the Naox Lungx (forest worship) ritual of the Mong people in Si Ma Cai district, Lào Cai province, or the forest worship ceremony of the Giay people in Văn Bàn district, Lào Cai province, announced in 2020, reflect knowledge about forests and how to interact with them. However, a distinction is needed: the ritual itself may be classified as social customs and beliefs, while the accompanying knowledge about forests, seasons, and plant varieties is folk knowledge. In practice, a heritage may be proposed under whichever type best matches its focus.
Why divide into seven types instead of one common category?
This division stems from the requirements of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, in which intangible heritage is identified through five domains of expression, and each member state specifies a classification framework suited to its own practice. Separating seven types helps management agencies identify the right subject, the right protection method, and the right criteria for assessing the risk of fading.
For example, a folk melody fading because elderly artisans pass away calls for transmission and recording. A craft fading because indigenous materials run out or cannot compete on price requires measures including raw material zone planning and consumption support. If all were merged into one group, policy would be hard to make precise.
How does Decree 39/2024/NĐ-CP regulate the inventory cycle?
The inventory cycle differs depending on which list the heritage is on. Specifically:
- Heritage on the UNESCO Representative List: every 6 years, or otherwise as UNESCO provides.
- Heritage on the UNESCO Urgent Safeguarding List: every 4 years, or otherwise as UNESCO provides.
- Heritage on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage: every 3 years from the time of inscription.
This cycle has practical meaning: it forces management agencies to update the practice status of heritage rather than inscribe once and leave it. It is also a mechanism for early detection of heritage at risk of fading or being lost.
Which groups are given priority protection principles?
The Decree sets out priority protection principles for intangible cultural heritage at risk of fading or being lost, and for heritage of communities living in mountainous, remote, border, and island areas, ethnic groups facing difficulties or with special characteristics, and heritage of value to the whole community and society.
These principles also emphasise respect for cultural diversity, the role of the subject community, and ethnic and regional specificity. Intangible cultural heritage of different communities is respected equally. Priority is given to the decision-making right of the subject community for the long-term, continuous existence and practice of the heritage.
In the National Assembly discussion on 23 October 2024, delegate Thạch Phước Bình (Trà Vinh delegation) asked for clarification of the concept of intangible cultural heritage at risk of fading or being lost, for example a sharp decline in the number of artisans, or the related cultural space being encroached upon or disappearing. The delegate also proposed additional support measures for communities in ethnic minority, mountainous, and island areas, and proposed that the titles of People's Artisan and Meritorious Artisan should come with long-term financial, insurance, and healthcare support.
What do national heritage announcements show about the seven types?
The October 2020 announcement of 23 national intangible cultural heritages is an example of how the seven types operate in practice. According to the Government Electronic Newspaper, these 23 heritages fall under five types: traditional crafts, traditional festivals, folk performing arts, social customs and beliefs, and folk knowledge.
Notably, the two types of language and script and folk literature did not appear in that announcement. This does not mean these two types are unimportant; it often reflects the nature of dossiers: folk literature and language and script are often embedded in larger dossiers, or face difficulty in identifying the subject community and the scope of practice space. This is a point to note when comparing inventories, to avoid inferring that a type has been forgotten.
Some heritages in the 2020 announcement include: salt making in Bạc Liêu, Sai Nga conical hat making in Phú Thọ, Pia cake making in Sóc Trăng (traditional crafts); Tranh dau phao festival in Cao Bằng, Đền Quát festival in Hải Dương, Tứ Linh boat racing festival in Lý Sơn, Quảng Ngãi (traditional festivals); lullabies of the Viet people in Cần Thơ, Nau M'Pring folk singing of the M'Nong people (folk performing arts); Fire Jumping ceremony of the Red Dao in Hà Giang, Then Khoăn ritual of the Tay in Lào Cai (social customs and beliefs); Naox Lungx forest worship ritual of the Mong in Si Ma Cai, forest worship ceremony of the Giay in Văn Bàn (tied to folk knowledge about forests).
How often are intangible cultural heritage festivals held?
Decree 39/2024/NĐ-CP also regulates the Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival, including practice and performance activities of the subject community, exhibitions, introductions, awareness raising, community capacity building, education, and promotion.
Regarding authority, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism decides on festivals at the scale of two or more provincial-level administrative units, national and international in Vietnam. The Chairman of the People's Committee of a province or centrally-run city decides on festivals within its area.
Regarding periodicity, festivals for all types of intangible cultural heritage organised by the functional agency under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism at national and international scale in Vietnam are held every 3 years. Festivals for each type of intangible cultural heritage at national scale within the country are held every year. Festivals covering two or more provinces or cities are proposed by the Chairman of the People's Committee of a province or city with heritage to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for consideration and decision when there is agreement from the remaining provinces and cities, to be held in rotation every 2 years.
