Traditional festivals of Dai, Achang, De 'ang, Bulang and Wa. Dai language calls the New Year "Jingbimai" and the Songkran Festival "Hounan". Therefore, the Songkran Festival is a symbol of the Dai people's alternation of old and new over the years.
There are different legends about the origin of the Songkran Festival. In Xishuangbanna, the Dai legend goes like this: In ancient times, there was a demon king who did many bad things. People hated him and tried every means to kill him. Later, the devil took seven girls as his wives. The clever seven girls learned his fatal weakness from the devil's mouth, that is, strangling the devil with his hair to kill him. Seven girls pulled out the devil's hair while he was sleeping. Strangled, the devil's head rolled down. But as soon as the head landed, the ground caught fire, and as soon as the girl picked up her head, the fire went out. In order not to catch fire, she and her six sisters take turns to hold the devil's head and change it once a year. When people change people every year, people throw water on the girl who holds the head, washing away the blood stains on her body, washing away her fatigue for one year, and praying for the new year to eliminate disasters and difficulties. Since then, the Songkran Festival has been formed.
The Songkran Festival usually lasts for three to five days in mid-April of Gregorian calendar and mid-June of Dai calendar. The first day is called "more than ten thousand miles", which means New Year's Eve, and the last day is called "eighty thousand horses", which means "the day when the king comes", which is New Year's Day. The middle is called "wrist brain", which means "empty sky". Every festival, we should carry out activities such as splashing water, losing bags, rowing dragon boats, flying high, worshiping Buddha and going to the market.
On the morning of the first day of the festival, people gathered flowers and green leaves to worship in the Buddhist temple, and built four or five pagodas in the temple. Secular beings sit around the tower, listen to the Buddha chanting, and then carry the Buddha to the courtyard. All the women in the village came to meet the Buddha with clear water. After the Buddhist temple ceremony, young men and women stopped splashing water on each other for fun, so the people began splashing water. People use copper bowls, washbasins and even buckets to hold water, squeeze out of the streets, play chasing games and throw it at everyone. People think this is auspicious water, blessed water, which can eliminate disasters and get rid of diseases, so people splash it whenever they like, regardless of whether it is splashed or not, although it is soaked from head to toe, it is still very happy. I saw the waves in full bloom in the crowd, forming a rainbow under the reflection of the sun, full of laughter and laughter everywhere.
In addition to splashing water, there are also mass song and dance activities. Old people in their seventies and eighties put on holiday costumes and came to the village square. Men, women and children form a circle and dance with the drums. Some dance "peacock dance", some dance "Euler Ah", some improvise, sing and dance, with beautiful movements, clear rhythm and moving songs. Jump in high spirits, or burst into cheers of "water, water, water", or end with the song of "Euler, Euler". Some men drink while dancing, such as getting drunk, staying up late, and even getting drunk on the dance floor.
During the festival, dragon boat races are held on the broad Lancang River. There are colorful flowers on the wooden boat, dressed as Jackie Chan, peacock and big fish, and dozens of young men and women are struggling to paddle forward. The audience on both sides of the strait is like a cloud, and the sound of gongs and drums and cheers resounded through the sky. After the competition, the winner came to the podium to receive the prize and drank the celebration wine.
In the evening, the village set off fireworks. This is the fireworks made by the Dai people. It uses a bamboo that is dozens of feet long, and its root is filled with gunpowder and other ingredients and placed on an elevated bamboo. When the fuse is lit and the gunpowder burns, bamboo shoots soar into the sky like rockets, emitting gorgeous fireworks in the air, just like flowers, and the stars are shining and dazzling, making the night sky of the festival particularly beautiful. Those who are promoted to the highest position will be appreciated and rewarded.
There will also be activities such as packet loss during the Songkran Festival. Young men and women seek partners through packet loss and express their affection.
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The origin of Songkran Festival
According to legend, in ancient times, there was a fierce and cruel fire demon who ruled the earth. People hate his guts and want to get rid of him, but no one can think of a good way. So he will do whatever he wants, and his arrogance will become more and more arrogant.
Fire demon has seven daughters, all beautiful, kind-hearted, smart and brave. They are very sympathetic and concerned about people who are suffering and oppression, and hate their father like laborers. They also want to kill their father, but they don't know how. Later, Maitreya told them that if you want to kill the fire demon, you must first pull a hair from his head and use it to strangle him.
The task was first completed by seven girls. Although she is the youngest, she is the bravest and has the fastest hands and feet. One night, the fire demon just fell asleep and snored like thunder. The seven girls who secretly stared at the devil saw that the time had come and immediately pulled out their long hair from the fire devil. And strangled the fire demon with his hair. This method is really ingenious. Without the fire demon struggling, his head fell off. However, a new problem has emerged. The fire devil's head is rolling around, and when he gets there, he will ignite a fire. How to do this? It still hurts people. So, this scared seven other girls. They took turns to hold the fire demon's head to prevent it from falling to the ground, so as not to make people suffer. The fire demon's head was held for such a long time, and Seven Sisters was so tired that his face was gaunt and his whole body was covered with mud. Seven Sisters had to take turns washing his body with water. I don't know how many days and nights passed, the fire demon's head became shriveled, gradually lost the performance of transmitting fire, and then gradually broken and turned into dust. Seven Sisters has unloaded a heavy burden. To commemorate Seven Sisters, the Dai people throw water at each other from April 13 to 15 every year. With the passage of time, this has become an annual ceremony for the Dai people to express their blessings-the Water Splashing Festival.
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