What does it mean to be splashed with water during the Songkran Festival?
The more water is splashed on the Water-Splashing Festival, which symbolizes who is the happiest in that year, and also expresses the meaning that the Dai people want each other to be safe and happy. The meaning of splashing water in the Dai water-splashing festival is to express blessings, hoping to wash away diseases and disasters with holy water in exchange for a better and happier life.
Songkran Festival is the biggest festival of Dai people, and it is also the most influential festival with the largest number of participants in ethnic festivals. The Songkran Festival originated in India. With the deepening influence of Buddhism in Dai areas, the Water-splashing Festival has been circulated as a national custom for hundreds of years.
Water means happiness in Dai language, and splashing water on it means peace in four seasons and good luck in one year. Water-splashing Festival is also the New Year of Dai people, and people express their blessings by splashing water. In the minds of Dai people, water is a sacred substance. Water is closely related to all aspects of Dai people's daily life, and water culture closely related to water has been formed over time, which is regarded as a national tradition.
Songkran Festival is also a wonderful time for unmarried young men and women to find love and cultivate happiness. During the Songkran Festival, unmarried young men and women of the Dai nationality not only played the game of losing packets, but also splashed water on each other. The more water they pour, the more blessings and concerns they show. In the process of one-on-one splashing water, they gradually chose each other, and a series of romantic love stories began.
On the Inheritance Value of Dai Water-splashing Festival;
The Water-Splashing Festival is a comprehensive stage to fully display the traditional culture of the Dai people, including water culture, music and dance culture, food culture, costume culture and folk worship. It is an important window to study the Dai history and has high academic value. The artistic performances such as palm-slapping and white elephant dance displayed in the Water-splashing Festival can give people artistic enjoyment and help them understand the national characteristics of the Dai people, such as understanding nature, respecting Buddha in love the water and being gentle and calm.
20 19, 1 1, the list of representative projects of national intangible cultural heritage was published, and Dehong Cultural Center and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture Cultural Center were qualified as protected units of the "Dai Water-splashing Festival" project.
The Songkran Festival is an important link to strengthen the great unity of the people of all ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna, which has played a positive role in the friendly cooperation and exchanges between Xishuangbanna and Southeast Asian countries and in promoting the social, economic and cultural development of the world.