Beijing, March 27 (IANS): China has nominated Tai Chi, a form of ancient Chinese martial art, for inclusion in the Unesco List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a media report said on Monday.

The nomination, submitted by Wenxian county of Henan province, has been in the making since 2006, when the country drew up its first national intangible heritage list and included Tai Chi, said Zheng Aizhen, Chairman of the Wenxian Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

"As a precious traditional Chinese legacy, we all have a responsibility to protect it," Zheng said.

China attempted to get the Unesco status for the martial art form in 2008, but the application -- one of 35 from China -- was withdrawn after an evaluation deemed it "too vague".

The following year, the rules were changed to limit nations to only two nominations, which for China were Peking Opera and acupuncture. Both made it to the list.

The latest attempt to include Tai Chi comes amid speculation that South Korea and Japan could make similar nominations, the daily reported.

Zhang Liyong, President of the Henan High People's Court, said that the situation was "urgent".

"Both South Korea and Japan were trying to get Tai Chi registered. South Korea has already registered the Dragon Boat Festival as theirs, so we should be alarmed."

He was referring to the decision by Unesco to grant intangible heritage status to the Gangneung Danoje Festival in 2008, which was slammed by the Chinese. They argued that the event is derived from the Dragon Boat Festival and accused the UN of endorsing South Korea's appropriation of Chinese culture. 

The Unesco added the Chinese festival to the list in 2009.

Chen Xiaowang, a Tai Chi master, said claims that the martial art form originated in Korea are based on a fictional character from a kung fu novel by Hong Kong writer Louis Cha. 

He said its history can be traced to creator Chen Wangting in the mid-17th century.