Dai Water Splashing Festival
01 · Historical Records
The Dai Water-Splashing Festival is also called the "Bathing the Buddha Festival" and in the Dai language is known as "Bimai" (meaning New Year); the Dai people of the Xishuangbanna and Dehong regions also call this festival "Shanghan" and "Shangjian," both names deriving from Sanskrit, meaning revolution, change, and transition, referring to the sun having completed one circuit of the twelve zodiacal mansions and begun its transition into a new year. The Water-Splashing Festival is the New Year of the Dai people. It originated in India, where it was once a religious rite of Brahmanism; it was later absorbed by Buddhism and was introduced into the Dai areas of Yunnan, China, via Burma around the late 13th to early 14th century.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Achang, De'ang, Blang, and Wa peoples also celebrate this festival. Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and other countries also celebrate the Water-Splashing Festival. The festival is generally held in mid-sixth month of the Dai calendar (around ten days before or after the Qingming solar term of the lunar calendar) and is one of the grandest traditional festivals of Xishuangbanna. Its content includes folk activities, artistic performances, and trade and economic exchanges; specific festival activities include water splashing, ganbai (market fairs), dragon boat races, bathing the Buddha, scripture chanting, Zhangha singing, and peacock-dance and white-elephant-dance performances. With the growing influence of Theravada Buddhism in the Dai areas, the customs of the Water-Splashing Festival have become increasingly popular. Today this festival has become the foremost folk festival of the Dai people. During the festival, Dai men and women, old and young, put on festive attire and carry clear water, first going to the Buddhist temple to bathe the Buddha, and then begin splashing water on one another; the splashed clear water symbolizes auspiciousness, happiness, and health, and young people also take the bright, crystal-clear droplets in their hands as symbols of sweet love. The artistic performances displayed at the festival, such as Zhangha singing and the white elephant dance, give artistic enjoyment and help one understand the Dai people's national character of feeling nature, loving water and revering the Buddha, and being gentle and serene. At the same time, the Water-Splashing Festival is an important bond for strengthening the great unity of the people of all ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna Prefecture, and has played a positive role in friendly cooperation and exchange between Xishuangbanna and Southeast Asian countries and in promoting the prefecture's socioeconomic and cultural development.
Carrying water to bathe the Buddha
Dressed in festival attire, people carry water to the temple to bathe the Buddha before the water-throwing begins in the streets.
Sprinkling water on one another
Water is sprinkled gently between elders but splashed freely among the young, each drop standing for good fortune and health.
The festival market
Stalls line the open ground between temple and market, where trade is done in the pauses between splashes of water.
Dragon boat racing
Dragon races on the Lancang and its tributaries, preceded by a blessing at the bank and driven by drumming and shouted calls.
Chapters singing and peacock dance
Narrative singing by a leader and chorus, accompanied by peacock and white-elephant dances, links water, Buddha and community.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In Xishuangbanna the Water-Splashing Festival takes the whole prefecture as its stage: the basins around the prefectural seat, Jinghong, and Mengla have the most exuberant water splashing, while the mountain areas retain the old practices of market fairs, Zhangha singing, and dragon boat races. The splashing procession gathers along the streets toward the Buddhist temple; called "Bimai" in the Dai language, meaning New Year, the new year and the bathing of the Buddha overlap here into one and the same thing. More than one ethnicity celebrates the festival: the Achang, De'ang, Blang, and Wa peoples all join in these days; neighboring Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos also have their own water-splashing days, close together in time, forming a common festival belt. Relatives living across the border visit one another, and those attending fairs attend fairs — such is the daily life of this belt. The festival period across the prefecture follows the Dai calendar, coinciding with about ten days before or after the Qingming solar term of the lunar calendar; dragon boat races are mostly held on the broad waters of the Lancang River and its tributaries, market fairs are set up in open ground between the Buddhist temples and the street markets, and Zhangha singing is interwoven with peacock dances and white elephant dances, continuing from morning till night without the crowd dispersing. During the festival, men and women, old and young, change into festive attire and carry clear water, first bathing the Buddha at the temple, then splashing from the temple gate all the way down the streets and lanes, the flung droplets being regarded as symbols of auspiciousness, happiness, and health.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Dai Water Splashing Festival.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Water-Splashing Festival is a comprehensive stage that fully displays the traditional cultures of the Dai people — their water culture, music and dance culture, food culture, costume culture, and folk beliefs — and an important window for the study of Dai history, with considerable academic value.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。