What does the Dai's Water Splashing Festival custom entail?

The Water Splashing Festival is the grandest festival of the Dai people, and also the most influential and attended festival among the ethnic minority festivals in Yunnan. The Dai Water Festival lasts for three to four days. The first day is "Mai Day", which is similar to New Year's Eve on the lunar calendar, and is called "Wan Duoshanghan" in Dai language, meaning sending the old. At this time, people have to tidy up their houses, clean up, and prepare for the annual dinner and various activities during the festival. The next day is called "annoyed day", "annoyed" means "empty", according to the custom of this day is neither the previous year, also does not belong to the year after the year, it is "empty day"; the third day is the new year's day, called "MaiPaYa evening horse" people used to regard this day as "the king of the day to come"; The fourth day is New Year's Day, called "Ba net Ma", respect for the first year, people regard this day as the most beautiful, the most auspicious days. Early in the morning of the festival, the Dai men, women and children dressed in festive costumes, picking water, first to the Buddhist temple bath, and then began to splash each other, wishing each other good luck, happiness and health. People dance while calling out "Water! Water! Water!" The sound of drums and gongs resonates through the sky, and the blessed water splashes everywhere, the scene is really very spectacular.

Every Water Festival, the Dai people to the nearby mountains to collect some flowers and leaves, to the festival day, the Dai men, women and children will wear festive dress, picking the water, the first to the Buddhist temple to bathe in the Buddha, and then take the collection of flowers and leaves dipped in the water, began to splash each other, you splash me, I splash you, a flower bloomed in the air, it symbolizes good luck, happiness, health, young people in the hands of the bright crystal droplets, also symbolizes the sweet love. It symbolizes good luck, happiness and health, and the bright crystal beads of water in the hands of young people also symbolize sweet love. We splashed each other, everywhere is the water baptism, water blessing, water song. Duo Duohua string smile, the Water Festival has become a sea of joy.

The content of the Water Festival, in addition to splashing water, there are also drive pendulum, dragon boat racing, bathing Buddha, chanting, dancing peacock dance, throwing bags, put the high, release the peacock lanterns and other customs.

During the Water Splashing Festival, there are also dragon boat races. The race is held on the Lancang River. A group of red and green dragon boat in the "tang tang" gong and "hi hi hi" shouts and whistles, chopping waves, bravely forward, thousands of Chinese and foreign tourists attracted to the Lancang River side, for the festival has added a lot of tension and joyful atmosphere.

"Put Gao Sheng" and Kongming Lanterns are also activities unique to the Dai ethnic area. People set up a good high shooting frame before the festival, when the homemade earth rockets will be ignited, let it whistling flying into the blue sky. The higher and farther away from the cottage, the more people feel glorious, auspicious. The winners will also be awarded. At night, people in the square on the open space will be lighted candles, put into the homemade large "balloon" inside, the use of hot air buoyancy, a "Kongming lanterns" to fly into the sky, in honor of the ancient sages Kong Ming (Zhuge Liang).

Manpou

The more traditional way of doing this is to use a wooden basin filled with water, and then dip a branch into the water and gently splash it on someone else.

Martial Splash

Filling a wooden basin with water and splashing the whole basin straight out.

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