Source: Peru's National Institute of Culture website Every year, the old suspension bridges are dismantled. The men, who are not afraid of heights and are experienced, then begin to rebuild the suspension bridge. Source: Peru's National Institute of Culture website. "Authenticity" is the core principle of World Heritage protection. The Chinese translation of the word has at least three kinds: authenticity, originality and authenticity, reflecting the thinking of people from different backgrounds such as culture and history, sociology and folklore, and tourism, respectively. When it comes to authenticity, the most common example mentioned by scholars is the Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture, Japan. It is said that the core building is rebuilt every 20 years according to traditional techniques. Even though Ise Jingu is not a World Heritage Site, a Masterpiece of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, nor is any of the buildings listed as a national treasure of Japan, many people still talk about it as a classic example of the interpretation of the Nara Document on the Authenticity of Nara, even though it remains as it was more than 1,000 years ago. In the real world, then, is there any better example of the complexity and diversity of "hara kosen" than Ise Jingu Shrine? It's even got the double distinction of being a World Heritage Site and a Masterpiece of Non-Human Heritage? Four hours of careful driving along winding mountain roads from the famous Peruvian city of Cusco will bring you to a place called Quevay, the heart of the region ruled by the Inca Empire that flourished 600 years ago. The language of the old empire is still spoken today by the Quechua, the South American Indians. The Apurimac River, which rushes through a deep mountain valley, means "oracle of the mountain gods" in Quechua. On both sides of the river are four Quechua villages with skills and traditions that have remained unchanged for centuries. Every year, during the first week of June, the inhabitants harvest a hardy weed from the Andes mountains. The women weave it into small strands, and the men twist and join the strands, eventually weaving six long, strong, tough ropes, each 70 meters long. At the narrowest point of the Kwekwe Gorge, there is a suspension bridge over the Apurimac River. Following an unbroken ritual of 500 to 600 years, the townspeople gather the wild grass ropes on both sides of the bridge for an annual sacred ceremony. After the ceremony, the old suspension bridge is dismantled and the grass ropes, which have weathered the year's weather, fall into the river and are carried away by the waves. The next day, the experienced men, who were not afraid of heights, began to rebuild the suspension bridge, with four large ropes to line the deck and two to act as handrails. On the third day, the men split into two groups and carefully wove numerous thin ropes from both ends of the bridge, connecting the bridge deck and handrail between the six large ropes. The two groups met in the middle of the bridge, creating a new Kesewachaka, which means "grass suspension bridge" in Quechua. In 2013, the "Knowledge, Techniques and Rituals for the Annual Renewal of the Kechewachaka Suspension Bridge" was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In the San Antonio Declaration on the Authenticity of the Cultural Heritage of the Americas, it is explicitly stated that "important parts of our heritage, built of perishable materials, need to be regularly replaced according to traditional techniques to ensure their continued use". The Caesewachaca Suspension Bridge is undoubtedly the most vivid example of this statement of authenticity. The Peruvian poet González Prada said: "If you are snow, why are there fires roaring? If you are fire, why do you have severe cold freezes? If you are darkness, why are you flooded with light?" Lao Tzu said in the Tao Te Ching: "Weakness is stronger than strength, and softness is stronger than strength". Peruvian straw rope suspension bridges, which embody the wisdom of mankind's victory of strength over weakness, are said to be more than two hundred in the Inca era, they connect the canyons and ravines of the Andes, achieving a huge scale of the Inca empire road network system, but unfortunately only this one survives to this day. In the second year of the inscription on the Representative List of World Heritage, six South American countries, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, united to list the "road network system of the Inca Empire in the Andes" as a World Heritage Site. The project was so large that it included 137 sub-projects, of which sub-project number 106 was the Cahihuachaca Suspension Bridge. Peru: a distant South American country; a suspension bridge with a grass rope deep in the mountains: it seems perfectly ordinary. But this ordinary bridge in South America is a World Heritage Site and an Intangible Heritage Masterpiece. Together with the Declaration of San Antonio, it provides an alternative expression to the Ise Shrine and the Nara Document of the "authenticity" of cultural heritage, full of vibrancy and fireworks.
