The Water Splashing Festival is actually the Dai New Year, one of the grandest traditional festivals in Xishuangbanna, and is usually held in the middle of June on the Dai Calendar (that is, about ten days before and after the Lunar Qingming Festival) for a period of three to four days. It is usually held for three days from April 13 to 15 on the solar calendar.
Origin
The Dai Water Festival, also known as the "Bathing Buddha Festival", the Dai language known as "Bimai" (meaning New Year), the Dai people in the Dehong region of Xishuangbanna, also known as this festival for the "Shanhan" and "Shangji", the two names are derived from the Sanskrit language, which means that the turnover, change and transfer of the sun has been in the twelve zodiacal houses run a week to the beginning of the transition to a new year. The festival is celebrated by the Achang, Deang, Brown and Wa ethnic groups. Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and other countries also celebrate the Water Festival.
The Water Splashing Festival originated in India, is an ancient Brahmin ritual, later absorbed by Buddhism, about the end of the twelfth century to the beginning of the thirteenth century A.D. through the Myanmar with Buddhism into the Dai region of China's Yunnan Province. With the deepening influence of Buddhism in the Dai area, the Water Splashing Festival has become a national custom that has been passed down for hundreds of years. In the process of passing down the festival, the Dai people gradually combined it with their own national myths and legends, which gave the festival a more magical meaning and national color.
Second, the legend
On the origin of the Water Splashing Festival, there is such a vivid legend: a long time ago, in the area where the Dai people live, there was a brutal demon king, who did no harm, burned, killed, robbed, raped and defiled women everywhere, making the crops not harvested, and people's hearts were restless, and people did not have enough to live. People suffered from his cruelty, hate him to the bone, but no one can kill him.
The devil has 6 wives, but he is still not satisfied, and snatched a beautiful and clever girl. These 7 girls saw their compatriots living a miserable life and were determined to find a way to destroy the devil. The clever one hated the devil in her heart, but on the surface she didn't show her face, pretending to be very close to the devil. One night, the devil king from outside to snatch back many treasures and slaves, she took advantage of the devil king happy not to be prepared to try to find out with the devil king hair can strangle the devil king's secret. So, in the dead of night, while the demon king was sleeping, the girl quietly pulled out a hair of the demon king and strangled the demon king's neck. In a few moments, the devil's head rolled to the ground, but as soon as the head hit the ground, the ground burst into flames. Seeing that it would become a disaster, the girls immediately picked up the head, and the fire was extinguished. But wherever the devil's head rolled, there was a disaster; thrown into the river, the river flooded; buried in the ground, everywhere the stench of heaven, only the devil's wife held to be safe.
In order to avoid the disaster scourge of the people, the girls will take turns to hold the devil's head, one person to hold a day. A day in the sky, equal to a year on the ground, every year the girls rotate the day, that is, the Dai New Year, the Dai people with admiration for the girls, to hold the head of the girl splash water, in order to wash away the body of the blood stains and adult fatigue, as a kind of blessing to wash the dirt and purify the body.
Later, the Dai people in honor of the seven brave women, in this day every year to splash each other, since the formation of the Dai people to celebrate the old and welcome the new grand festival - Water Festival.