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Water-Splashing Festival Of The Dais
The Dai is the biggest ethnic group in Yunnan Province, which is home to about half of China's 55 minority nationalities. Legend goes that in ancient times, the ancestors of the Dai people tried to find a place to settle down. They walked along rivers, from on place to another. At least, they found an oasis on the Tropic of Cancer. Since then they have had close relation with water.
That oasis today is known as Xishuang Banna, a beautiful place in the southern part of Yunnan Province. The area is subtropical, with plenty of rainfall. According to Chinese documents of the ninth century, the Dai had a fairly well developed agriculture. They used oxen and elephants to till the land, grew lots of rice and had an extensive irrigation system. But when referring to the Dai nationality, people think about water. The custom of water-splashing is an unforgettable experience to many tourists. An American tourist, who had no idea about the custom until he visited a Dai village, describes his experience this way:
"I was intrigued by the Dai people's custom of splashing water on one another. When a lovely, young Dai girl approached me with a pail of water, at first she dunked a small branch of leaves in the water, then touched me gently with the wet leaves. But shortly afterward, the fun began. At least for her!7a686964616fe78988e69d83338 She and other Dai ladies threw entire buckets of water on unsuspecting me and everyone else who happened to be enjoying this little ritual." The water-splashing reaches a climax in the Water-Splashing Festival, by which the Dai people ring out the old and bring in the new, as the festival marks the beginning of a new year in the Dai calendar.
There are a lot of folk tales about the origin of the festival. Here is one. Long long ago, there lived a tyrant in the Dai village. He stopped at no evil. He burned, killed and looted wherever he went. No one could get rid of him, because he was very powerful. He was afraid of neither water nor fire. One day, he came across a beautiful Dai girl. He already had six wives and he wanted that girl as his seventh. So he married her. His wives, all kind-hearted women, utterly detested the barbarous acts of the tyrant and decided to kill him in order to protect the innocent people. However, they were too weak to challenge him. They had to wait. One day, the tyrant came back with lots of trophies. That night, he got drunk. The seventh wife, his favorite, thought it was the right time to act. "Your Majesty," she said to the tyrant, "You're the strongest person in the world. So, you can live as long as you want." The tyrant was overjoyed. Being drunk, he was not as cautious as usual. "My dear," he said, "I have a fatal weakness. If my hair twists around my neck, I'll die." His wife memorized those words. When the tyrant fell asleep, the women began to act. They twisted his hair around his neck, and the tyrant died. But as soon as his head feel onto the ground, a big fire began. The women had no choice but to hold his head with their hands, doing it in turns, one for a year. Each time one wife finished her turn and passed on the head, the others would splash water on her to wash away bloodstains. And splashing water on one another became a way to vanquish the devil and symbolically express the wish for better times ahead. Water splashing became a symbol of good luck, a way to wish good fortune to strangers, friends and family alike.
The Water-Splashing Festival is in mid-April and lasts three to five days. During the festival, the door of every home is decorated with multicolored paper-cuts. All the villagers dress in their holiday best. Sheep and cows are slaughtered for feasting, plus delicious glutinous rice cakes, rice noodles, and rice wine. The occasion is marked by a variety of entertainment, including singing and dancing, fireworks-displaying, boat-racing and exhibiting air-borne lanterns. But the most popular event is still water-splashing. An American tourist tells what he sees there: "The first day of the mid-April Water-Splashing Festival is devoted to a giant market. On the second day, there are dragon-boat races. And the third day is what I'll call a water-splashing 'free for all'. It's impossible to get too hot, because the Dai people will drench you with water all day long. Dancing and game-playing occupy the evenings during the festival. With the Dai people's sincere wish for your good fortune, as they sprinkle you lightly, then soak you to the skin, to be sure, your days will be filled with the greatest possible prosperity and happiness." Water is the most precious thing to the Dai people.
In the song "Ode to Dripping Water", we discover that water for the Dai is the source of life and the embodiment of justice and truth. Dripping water, you soak into the fields, / You turn the ground into a green ocean, / To make the world cool and refreshing forever. / Dripping water, you're the source of life, / When you nurture the creatures on earth, / Wash away all their worries and misfortunes, / Cleanse them of their selfishness and greediness, / And keep them safe and sound forever. Most Dai villages are on the plains, near rivers and streams, and among clusters of bamboo. No important ceremonies, such as those of wedding, funeral and birth, will take place without water. When a young couple get married, the old man who presides over the wedding ceremony will sprinkle water on them to wish a happy time and a good future.
Most of the Dai people still prefer water burials. Before the ceremony, a respected old man will recite a funeral oration. Holding a gourd which is full of water, he chants: Pour out the holy water, Like tears rolling down our cheeks, As drop by drop, it falls on the sorrowful land. If you miss your descendants on earth, Please turn into a big bodhi tree, Standing by the roadside, Soothing everyone passing by, Serving as a straw hat on hot summer days, And as an umbrella in the rain. As the funeral oration indicates, religion is also an important element in Dai people's life. They are generally followers of Buddhism. There are many Buddhist temples in the countryside. Boys at the age of seven or eight will go to the temples to learn to read, write and chant scriptures. Some Dai festivals are closely related to religious activities. The "Door-Closing" for example, marks the start of the three months of intensive religious activities beginning in the middle of the sixth month on the lunar calendar. As it is the hot season with a lot of rain, people do little farm work. They stay home to pray or go to temples to pay religious homage to Buddha. Marriage is forbidden during the "Door-Closing" period. So when the "Door-Opening" comes round, it means the return to normal life. Young men and women choose their lovers by tossing embroidered balls. Once they have picked their partners, they sing and dance together.
The Water Splashing Festival held by the Dai Nationality in Xishuangbanna. Also known as the festival of bathing the Buddha, it celebrates the Dai New Year. (Keren Su/LPI)
Walk through Jinghong, the capital of the Xishuangbanna region in the far southwest of China, in the middle of April and you are likely to get very wet.
The culmination of the three day-long water-splashing festival that marks the Dai New Year is a riot of people racing around the streets of Jinghong and the surrounding villages, soaking every person in sight with buckets of water, hoses, water-pistols and water-filled balloons.
Foreigners come in for special attention; it is not unusual for visitors to be drenched the moment they get off the bus in Jinghong, which lies close to the border with and in the deep south of . But there is far more to the water-splashing festival than just the chance for a free shower, because Jinghong and Xishuangbanna is where China meets Southeast Asia.
Everything about the region, from the palm tree-lined streets of Jinghong and the jungle-covered hills outside the city, to the steamy climate and the spicy local cuisine, is more redolent of Southeast Asia than the China of and the . Above all, Xishuangbanna is home to an array of ethnic minorities with close links to their cousins across the nearby frontiers with Laos and Myanmar, as well as . Uniquely for China, the blend of peoples and cultures here means it is a region where ethnic identity is more important than the colour of a person’s passport, or which side of the border you live on.
The water-splashing festival is perhaps the prime example of the trans-cultural nature of Xishuangbanna. Celebrated from 13 to 15 April, the festival marks New Year for the Dai ethnic minority, who make up one-third of the population of the region. Closely related ethnically, culturally and linguistically to the Thais, as well as to the Tai Lue people of northern Laos and eastern Myanmar, the water-splashing festival is the Dai version of Songkran, the Thai New Year that takes place at the same time.
At one time, Xishuangbanna, which is a corruption of the Thai "Sipsawngpanna", which means "12 Rice-Growing Districts", was part of a Dai kingdom that stretched south as far as in northern Thailand. The Dai had their own King until 1953, when he abdicated under pressure from the ruling Chinese Communist Party. But far more than many of China’s ethnic minorities, the Dai have managed to maintain their cultural identity and traditions.
That is despite an influx of Han Chinese, who make up the majority of China’s population, into Jinghong. The water-splashing festival is when the Dai assert their difference from the Han, who celebrate New Year in late January or early February. Nevertheless, the festival has become enormously popular with Han Chinese tourists, who flock into Jinghong to get soaked alongside the locals and foreigners.
For the first two days, however, the festival is comparatively restrained. People wear their best clothes, while older women in the nearby villages don traditional costume such as printed sarongs and black headdresses decorated with silver jewellery, and gather with their families before visiting Dai temples and monasteries. There, they wash the statues of Buddha with water, a practise known as "Bathing the Buddha".
Originally, the now-blessed water would then be collected and poured on family members as a symbolic way of washing away the past year’s dirt and sorrows and to ensure good luck in the coming year. But, like Songkran in Thailand, the third day of the festival has now become a free-for-all, where water is hurled from apartment blocks and out of shops and restaurants, or sprayed from passing cars, at anyone in range. The wetter you get, the luckier you will be.
Once the festival finishes life in Xishuangbanna returns to its normal sleepy state. No one rushes in the tropical heat and life in the hill villages hasn’t changed radically, despite the fact that the region is now on the tourist map. Treks into the countryside offer the chance to meet not just the Dai, but the Wa, Jinuo, Hani and the Bulang minorities, all of whom have their own languages and customs. Just remember to take a towel if you’re in the area in mid-April.
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中国的傣族是一只有着悠久文化传统的民族，人口近百万。主要散布在云南西双版纳傣族自治州.西部傣族景颇族自治州以及耿马孟连等自治县。
泼水节是傣族最为重要的节庆。每年阴历四月举行，一般为期三至四天。至今傣族人e799bee5baa6e997aee7ad94e4b893e5b19e337民中还流传着一个神话：远古的时候，傣族地区有一个恶魔，他作恶多端，人们恨透了他，可什么办法都对付不了恶魔。后来，七位姑娘发现了恶魔的致命弱点，只有恶魔的头发才可置于死地。一天夜里，姑娘们勇敢的杀害了恶魔。但恶魔的头一着地，就燃起了大火。此时，姑娘们立即轮流抱起头颅。每年换一次，当换人时。人们都给抱头颅的姑娘泼水，冲去身上的血污和疲倦。后来就形成了傣族最为重要的节日——泼水节。
China Dai is a long cultural tradition of the nation, a population of nearly a million. Mainly distributed in the Yunnan Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. Western Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture as well as in Gengma and other autonomous county.
Water splashing Festival is the most important festival. Every year lunar calendar April, generally for a period of three to four days. So far the Dai people in is also a popular myth: in ancient times, the region has a demon, he do all kinds of evil, people hate him, but nothing can't deal with the devil. Later, the seven girls found the devil's fatal weakness, only the devil hair can kill. One night, the girls brave killed the demon. But the head of the demon touched the ground, he caught fire. At this time, the girls immediately turns up. Every year for a time, when the change. People have to hold head girl splashing water, to flush the blood and tired. Later formed the most important feast -- water-sprinkling festival.
In the" Michael day" is the first day of the festival. People in the morning to gather flowers green leaves to temple worship, but to water" Buddha" -- the Buddha of welcome. " Bath " end, collective water began. A group of young men and women with water gushing, high streets and back lanes, everyone can throw. "Water release, Dai Wang,"" a body splash, happy life" after another auspicious. Happy healthy water blooming in the sky.
The Dragon Boat Festival is the most exciting one of the programs, often in the water-sprinkling festival" wheat pat later Ma" ( third day ) is held. On that day people wear traditional costumes gathered in the Lancang River, Ruili, to watch the Dragon Boat races. The river at diversiform dragon boat, boat, dozens of strong players, command rang, dragon is like an arrow to fly. Everywhere is the gong. Drums. Songs sound. The sound of applause, the festive atmosphere here reached a climax.
" High" is Songkran another program. Is the Dai people a homemade fireworks, will add to the bottom of bamboo powder and other ingredients, in the bamboo tower, the street lead, often at night fireworks. In the air emit brilliant fireworks, like flowers Kam Group, its brightness dazzles the eyes., is very beautiful. The water-sprinkling festival is the Dai nationality traditional culture crystallization, is a happy holiday.