What are the national customs of the Dai people?
The "Water-splashing Festival" is a traditional festival for the Dai people to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. The time is in the middle of April in the Gregorian calendar. The main activities during the festival are ancestor worship, building sand, splashing water, throwing sandbags, dragon boat racing, setting off sparks and singing and dancing carnival. The annual Water-Splashing Festival is held in June of Dai calendar, which is the biggest festival. In Dai language, it is called "Sanggan Bimai". At that time, the Buddha will be worshipped and a banquet will be held to entertain monks, relatives and friends to splash water on each other. Now, water splashing is the main content of the Dai New Year Festival, which is deeply loved by people of all ethnic groups.
Closing festival
"Closing the door" is called "entering the depression" in Dai language, which means that the Buddha enters the temple. Yunnan Dai traditional religious festival, lasting for 3 months, begins on September 15 (mid-July of the lunar calendar) of the Dai calendar every year. According to legend, every year in the Dai calendar in September, the Buddha went to the Western Heaven to lecture with his mother, and then returned to the world three months later. Once, just as the Buddha was going to the west to talk about his menstrual period, thousands of Buddhists went to the countryside to preach, trampling on the crops of the people and delaying their production. People complained bitterly and were very dissatisfied with Buddhists. When the Buddha learned about this, he felt uneasy. From then on, whenever the Buddha went to the Western Heaven to give a lecture, all Buddhists were called together and it was stipulated that they were not allowed to go anywhere during these three months, and they could only repent to atone for their sins. Therefore, people call it "closing day".
Open door festival
"Opening Day", also known as "Chuva", is a traditional festival of Dai, Bulang, De 'ang and some Wa people who believe in Hinayana Buddhism. Popular in Yunnan, it originated from the habit of rainy season life of ancient Buddhism, similar to the restoration of Buddhism in the Central Plains. The time is December 15th of the Dai calendar (around mid-September of the lunar calendar). The opening day symbolizes the end of the rainy season in the past three months, and it also means that the marriage taboo between men and women has been lifted since the closing day. From now on, young men and women can start free love and hold weddings. On this day, young men and women dressed in costumes went to the Buddhist temple to worship Buddha, offering food, flowers, wax strips and coins. After the sacrifice, a grand cultural rally was held to celebrate the end of fasting since the closing day. The main contents include setting off sparks and rising, lighting lanterns, singing and dancing. Young people will also jump lanterns in the shape of birds, animals, fish and insects around the village. At this time, when the rice harvest is finished, it is also a festival to celebrate the harvest.