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Water Splashing Festival in China
Background
The Water Splashing Festival mainly celebrated by Dai ethnic in Xishuangbanna Dai
Autonomous Prefecture and Dehong Dai and Jingbo Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province
is also called Buddha Bathing Festival. It falls on the first day in Dai calendar, and hence is
also known as Dai New Year.
The festival in Dai vernacular is called โ€Shangganโ€, transliterated from Sanscrit with the
meaning of โ€rotationโ€, symbolizing the Sun has passed a full round circle on the zodiac signs
and a new year is coming. The Water Splashing Festival is one of the most widely celebrated
traditional festivals of Dai people in Xishuangbanna and Dehong, while other ethnics including
Achang, Deang, Bulang and Wa also celebrate this festival.
According to research of Chinese scholars, the earliest records concerning Water Splashing
Festival appeared in the history book Northern Zhou Dynasty, stating โ€People splashed water
on each other to have fun.โ€ It got popular and celebrated with singing and dancing during
Tang Dynasty, confirmed by many historical records at that time.
To make it convenient for public celebration, it was approved in 1987 by regional law
that the 3 days from April 13th through April 15th is the legal holiday for celebrating Water
Splashing Festival in Xishangbanna. Thanks to the development of tourism, the festival is
gaining popularity and becomes known as the Oriental Carnival.
Nowadays, the local government is attaching great important on this festival with the
purpose to promote traditional culture, enrich peopleโ€s recreational life, improve unity and
friendship of all people, enhance domestic as well as international exchange, and speed up
tourism industry. Apart from conventional customs, celebrating activities including public
performance, pageant, commodity fair, and food festival are held to make it a Dai carnival.
Songkran Tradition 23
