Heritage debate ensues after 'monkey buskers' convicted  

河南新野4名猴戲藝人被拘 國家級“非遺”引熱議

不用搭臺，無需舞美燈光，只一塊空場，敲一敲鑼鼓，揮一揮鞭子，拽住猴繩子，吆喝一嗓子，便是一出好戲。這畫面便是俗稱“耍猴兒”的河南新野猴戲，其歷史可以追溯到東漢。可最近，在專業耍猴兩千年后，新野耍猴藝人首度因“非法運輸珍貴野生動物”成被告。連日來，4名河南省新野縣的猴戲藝人被拘引發熱議。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- A court in northeast China has convicted four "monkey busking trick" performers, arousing nationwide concern about the protection of intangible cultural heritages, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

The traveling buskers were picked up in Mudanjiang city, Heilongjiang province, while performing with six trained monkeys in July. Police said the buskers lacked wild animal transportation certifications.

Two months later, they were convicted of "illegally transporting rare wild animals" by a local court.

The buskers are from Henan province's Xinye county, birthplace of the tradition of "monkey busking tricks." The street performance dates back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 AD - 220 AD) and was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008 by the State Council.

The incident has triggered doubts over how such a tradition could be considered a crime.

This intangible cultural heritage needs space to survive, according to the newspaper, adding that only four or five hundred performers remain.

But others said the traditional way of performing did not preserve and protect the intangible cultural heritage, citing frequent reports of performers abusing monkeys.