From the origin and development of the Dai Water-splashing Festival, what was the water splashing for at first, and what was it for later?

Water-splashing Festival, the Dai New Year, is the most solemn traditional festival in Xishuangbanna, which is rich in magical activities and attracts countless tourists at home and abroad. The Songkran Festival usually lasts for three to four days. The first day is New Year's Eve, which is the day to send off the old year. There are often traditional activities such as dragon boat rowing and flying high (flying high means firing homemade earth rockets). The second day (or the third day) is blank. It does not belong to the old year or the new year, but the empty day between the old year and the new year. Therefore, people can arrange activities freely on this day (or two days). The third day is the New Year's Day of the Dai calendar, which is also the most lively day in the Dai calendar year. Legend has it that "the day when the King of Days comes". In the early morning, people dressed in costumes began to do some Buddhist activities. At noon, the busy women carry water to welcome the dust for the Buddha (that is, "bathing the Buddha") and pray for the Buddha to bless the Dai family in the new year. At this point, the joyful water splashing activity began.

Water splashing is the most important traditional activity of the Water Splashing Festival. People splash water on each other and wish each other well. Dai people often say, "The annual Water Splashing Festival will splash on anyone who can afford it". Water splashing conveys the sincere friendship and love of young men and women, and it expresses people's mutual blessings. The water of Shengji washes away people's hard work, sweat, troubles and sadness for a year. Sprinkle joy and holy water on distant visitors and passers-by To show respect and welcome to the guests and pass on the friendship to friends from all directions. Traditional activities include courtship, peacock dance dancing, majestic elephant-foot drum dancing, cultural performances, sports competitions, business transactions, material exchanges and so on. Many distinguished guests and tourists at home and abroad have come here to spend the joyful Water-splashing Festival with the Dai family and have forged a lasting friendship. Generally, this grand festival is celebrated in front of Manfeilong Pagoda in Jinghong County and Jingzhen Octagonal Pavilion in Menghai County.

There is a touching story among the Dai people about the origin of the Water-splashing Festival.

according to legend, in ancient times, a god named Paomadian Dalazha was in charge of farming. However, Dara Zha, who holds hemp spots, does whatever he wants by virtue of his clever magic, magical powers and chaotic display of great power, and cools down when he wants to rain, which makes the world cold and warm, and confuses rain and drought. Ying Da Tira, the god of heaven, decided to punish Dalachai, who brought disaster to the world, but the gods and immortals were afraid to touch him because of his clever magic. So Ying Da Lati became a handsome young man and went to "string" the seven daughters of Madian Dalachai, and he told them how their father had done evil. Seven kind and beautiful girls were very dissatisfied with what their father had done. Today, after listening to the words of the "young man", they were even more indignant. They were determined to put the righteousness above family and eliminate disasters for the world. The girls privately discussed that in order to get rid of their heinous father, they must find out the secret of his life and death. Dalachai, who was holding hemp, unconsciously revealed his secret of life and death in his laughter: he was not afraid of fire, flooding, knife cutting and arrow shooting, but he was afraid of making a bow with his hair (meaning "heartstring bow").

One day, the girls got their father as drunk as a fiddler. While he was sleeping soundly, they quietly pulled out one of his hair and made it into a "bow stopper". When they aimed the "bow stopper" at Dalachai, who was holding hemp, his neck was broken. As soon as his head fell to the ground, he caught fire and the fire spread everywhere. In order to put out the evil fire, the seven girls took turns holding Dalachai's head with hemp spots in their arms until it rotted. During the rotation, the girls have to call clean water and splash it on themselves to wash away the stains and odors.

In order to commemorate the seven girls who put their righteousness above their family's family, when celebrating the New Year, the Dai family will hold water splashing activities to eliminate disasters and difficulties, and wish good weather, abundant crops and prosperous people and animals in the new year. The "wrist brain" in the Dai calendar New Year is the day when the head of Dalazha is rotted, and the water splashing activity is held on this day.

In fact, the Water-Splashing Festival is the New Year of the Dai people. It originated in India and was once a religious ceremony of Brahmanism. Later, it was absorbed by Buddhism and introduced to the Dai areas in Yunnan through Myanmar. The time was from the end of 13th century to the beginning of 14th century. About 7 years ago, with the increasing influence of Buddhism spread to the south in Dai areas, the custom of water-splashing festival has become increasingly widespread.

climatic characteristics of Xishuangbanna

Xishuangbanna gives people the first impression that it is green all over the mountains. Flowers bloom all the year round, and fruits bear fruit all the year round. Trees do not shed leaves in autumn and winter. Only when dry season and rainy season alternate, a few trees change leaves in batches. The second feeling is that the climate is mild and there is no trace of "winter". A climatologist once divided spring, summer, autumn and winter into winter when the monthly average temperature is below 1℃, summer when the monthly average temperature is above 22℃, and spring and autumn when the monthly average temperature is between 1℃ and 22℃. The average monthly temperature in the low altitude areas of Xishuangbanna is around 15℃. Therefore, Xishuangbanna is known as "a paradise without winter". From December to February, it was the time when the northern part of the motherland was "frozen for thousands of miles and snowed in Wan Li", but in Xishuangbanna, people were still swimming and fishing for moss in the Lancang River!

from the perspective of topographical environment, Xishuangbanna is adjacent to the Qinghai-Tibet commercial plain in the north, located at the tail of Hengduan Mountains and at the junction of the vast Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean in the south. It is controlled by different land-sea air masses in winter and summer, forming a superior environment that is incomparable with other regions at the same latitude. The Himalayan movement has formed a horseshoe-like terrain with a gap centered on the Lancang River, descending from north to south, from two sides and three wings to the center, and the whole state is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. The highest peak is Huazhuliangzi in Menghai County, with an altitude of 2429.7 meters, and the lowest point is at the intersection of Lancang River and Nanla River, with an altitude of 477 meters and a relative height difference of 1952.7 meters. This makes Xishuangbanna a plateau basin where the cold is easy to enter and difficult to get out, and there is no typhoon raging, which constitutes a unique subtropical environmental condition.

from the latitude position, Xishuangbanna belongs to the direct sunlight area, with high incident angle, strong solar radiation and high temperature, belonging to the subtropical high pressure zone and the northeast trade wind control area, so it is warm all year round, with long summer and no winter. The temperature is above 22°C from April to late October, and it is spring and autumn from November to March of the following year, and the temperature is between 13 C and 12 C. The annual average temperature is 18 C-2 C, with small annual temperature difference, large daily temperature difference and great regional difference. The extreme maximum temperature is 41°C, and the extreme minimum temperature is-4.5 C. The annual temperature difference is about 1°C, but the daily temperature difference is about 18 C. The sunshine hours in the whole year are 17-23 hours, and the average annual radiation amount in the whole state is 13.7 kcal /CM2.

Xishuangbanna gives people a third impression: high humidity. The annual rainfall in Xishuangbanna is between 12mm and 19mm, and the annual average relative humidity is between 82-85%. Xishuangbanna, located in the tropics south of the Tropic of Cancer, belongs to a climatological two-season area, with a tropical monsoon climate in the northern margin and a subtropical monsoon humid climate in the mountainous area. It is warm, sunny, rich in heat and humid and rainy all year round, and has the characteristics of "long summer without winter, and a rainy autumn".

In winter, the westerly wind in the northern hemisphere moves southward. Because of the barrier effect of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Hengduan Mountain and its tail slightly Ailao Mountain and Wuliang Mountain, the hot and humid ocean air flows northward from Beibu Gulf and Bay of Bengal, guided by the Lancang River system, and the warm and humid air mass goes deep into the inland north of this area along the river valley, forming a unique tropical humid area and bringing abundant rain. Therefore, compared with the eastern part of the same latitude in winter, the cold wave has a weak influence; Compared with the western region of the same latitude, there is more rain in summer and it is not affected by typhoons.

Xishuangbanna can be divided into dry and wet seasons according to rainfall. From May to October, influenced by the southwest monsoon of the Indian Ocean and the southeast monsoon of the Pacific Ocean, the airflow is deep and stable, and the precipitation is frequent and concentrated, making the weather gloomy and rainy, warm and humid. This period is the rainy season, and the precipitation accounts for more than 8% of the annual precipitation. During the wet season, there is less sunshine, low wind speed, more clouds and rain, high temperature, sudden rain and blinking eyes, and high humidity. Sometimes even within one or two square kilometers, it is rainy in the east and sunny in the west; Sometimes the sun is shining, and there will be heavy rain in foggy time. During the seven-month period from November to April of the following year, the south branch of the westerly wind led the dry and warm air flow from Iran, Pakistan, the northern Indian Peninsula and other deserts or mainland areas, making the weather sunny and rainy and the temperature pleasant. This period was dry season. Although there is little rain and strong light, the fog in Xishuangbanna is thick and heavy. The fog here rises at night and will not dissipate until noon the next day, and the concentration of fog dew is much larger than that of Chongqing, the "foggy capital", which not only increases the temperature in cold days, but also makes up for the lack of precipitation in dry seasons.

the area with tropical climate in this area is 3452Km (square kilometers), which is the largest tropical area in China. Due to the influence of topography, the vertical changes in all parts of the state are great, and the three-dimensional climate is remarkable, forming a rich microclimate habitat. It provides good conditions for the growth of tropical and subtropical plants and crops.

general situation of Xishuangbanna

Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture is located at the southern tip of Yunnan Province, China, with a land area of 19,112.5 square kilometers and a border line of 966 kilometers. It is one of the few green treasures in China, and its well-preserved tropical rainforest ecosystem is world-famous. Xishuangbanna is the only remaining oasis on the Tropic of Cancer in the world and the only tropical forest area preserved in China. She is beautiful, rich and magical, just like a bright pearl embedded in the southwest frontier of the motherland.

Xishuangbanna's borders are connected with Laos and Myanmar, and it is close to Thailand and Vietnam, so it has the advantage of facing South Asia. There are two national-level Kouyan and Daluo provincial ports, Mohan and Jinghong. The Lancang River runs through the north and south, and after leaving the country, it is called Mekong River. It flows through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and joins the Pacific Ocean. It is known as the "Danube River in the East" and is a golden waterway for economic and trade. Therefore, Xishuangbanna is not only an important channel and base for Southeast Asia and South Asia, but also a window for Yunnan to open to the outside world, with unique geographical and natural advantages.

Xishuangbanna, with a long history, was called Menglu in ancient times. As early as the Han Dynasty, Dai ancestors lived in the southwest of Yunnan, which was under the jurisdiction of Yongchang County (now Baoshan). When they arrived in the Three Kingdoms, Nanfu County was set up, and in the Tang and Song Dynasties, they were subordinate to Nanzhao and Dali. The Yuan Dynasty belonged to Yunnan Province, where the Ming Dynasty carried out the toast system in an all-round way. In the 4th year of Qin Long in Ming Dynasty (that is, AD 157), Xuanwei Knife divided its jurisdiction into twelve administrative units that levied feudal burdens-Banna, hence the name Xishuangbanna. In the early years of the Republic of China (1912), it was relocated to Pusi Border Administration Bureau, which belonged to Pu 'er Road. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture was established on January 23, 1953.

The literal translation of Dai language "Xishuangbanna" is "twelve thousand fields", which actually refers to twelve administrative regions. Dai people say that Xishuangbanna was called "Mengbanasi" in ancient times, which means "a magical and beautiful ideal land". Xishuangbanna has a tropical rain forest climate, with abundant sunshine and rainfall. The average annual temperature is about 21 degrees Celsius, so people here have never seen snow and ice. A year is divided into two seasons, and November to April is the dry season; May to October is the rainy season. It is coldest in January, with an average temperature of 16C in February and hottest in June, with an average monthly temperature of 28C. In the dry season, the sky is crisp, with little rain and strong light. At this time, the mainland of the motherland is in the cold winter, while Xishuangbanna is warm as spring, with lush greenery and flowers blooming everywhere, which has no beginning of winter meaning. It is the golden season for people to come to shelter from the cold, rest and recuperate.

Xishuangbanna has towering mountains, majestic scenery, dense forests and rolling hills. The flat dam area accounts for only 5%. It has jurisdiction over more than 4 townships in one city and two counties (Jinghong City, Menghai County and Mengla County), with a total population of more than 84, people, and is inhabited by 13 ethnic groups including Dai, Han, Hani, Lahu, Yi, Brown, Jinuo and Yao. Dai is the main ethnic group with nearly 3, people.

there are 3.6 million mu of precious tropical rain forest nature reserves in Xishuangbanna, of which 7, mu are well-preserved virgin forests. In these dense jungles, there are more than 2 thousand kinds of plant resources, including more than 5, kinds of higher plants, accounting for about 1/6 of the country. About 3 species are endemic, rare and relict species. There are 51 species of rare, endangered and endangered plants listed in the national key protection, such as tree fern, hip fruit, natural wood, Manglietia, feather pine, cycad, small impeller grass, Cynanchum, etc., accounting for 15% of the national key protection plants, so some people say it is a "plant species gene bank". These tree species have been propagated for more than 1 million years, which are primitive and ancient, and are called "living fossils". Only the endemic and rare plants in Xishuangbanna are Cephalotaxus, Rhododendron, Myristica yunnanensis, Cephalotaxus fortunei, Pistacia yunnanensis, Huangguomu, Hutong, Garcinia Garcinia, Maytenus, Cephalotaxus Cephalotaxus and so on. There are 12 kinds of cash crops that can be directly utilized, which is one of the most densely populated and abundant areas in China.

With abundant plants and mild climate, all kinds of animals have an ideal home for survival and reproduction. At present, there are nearly 4 species of birds, 67 species of mammals and 1437 species of insects. Among them, Asian elephants, vultures, white-bellied black woodpeckers, leopards, Indo-Chinese tigers and so on are world-wide protected animals. 2 species, such as lazy monkey, white-cheeked long-necked ape, leopard, tiger, elephant, bison, antelope and red-horned hornbill, are the first-class protected animals in the country. Bear monkey, golden cat, pheasant, peacock and peacock pheasant are the second-class protected animals in the country. There are also precious and rare amphibians in China, such as monitor lizard, python, tiger frog and gecko, which not only have scientific research value, but also have high economic value.

The tropical rain forest in Xishuangbanna is a mysterious and attractive place for many tourists. When you step into Xishuangbanna, you first feel that you have entered a green world. Primitive forests, rubber forests, fruit trees, banana forests and tea mountains ... form a picture of green seas and waves, and green waves will flood into your heart. A slim Dai girl, beautiful and pure, covered with beautiful long hair, charming; There are also rich and unique national customs that make foreign tourists pay homage.

At present, Xishuangbanna has opened more than 12 scenic spots, such as Xishuangbanna Primitive Forest Park, Wild Elephant Valley, Botanical Garden, Tropical Rainforest Wonders and Ethnic Tourism Villages. It has been listed as one of the three key tourism development zones with particularly rich tourism resources in China by the State Council and one of the first batch of key scenic spots in China. Ethnic culture, ethnic customs, tropical rain forests, ornamental plants, wild animals and other natural and human landscapes are integrated. Dai bamboo building, exquisite workmanship, unique style; There is also fragrant bamboo, which is an irresistible temptation. Xishuangbanna has opened border tourism with Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and other countries, and will soon open international flights. Xishuangbanna will become the central hub connecting with Southeast Asian tourism market.

the origin of the name of Xishuangbanna

Xishuangbanna is a Dai language. Among the four words, there are three numerals and one noun. The words "western, double and version" in Dai language are translated into Chinese as ten, two and thousand. Na, a noun, means field. Some articles introducing the situation of Xishuangbanna translate Xishuangbanna into twelve thousand fields literally. Twelve thousand fields, is it strange? Ten thousand is ten thousand, and twelve thousand should be twelve thousand. Why not call it twelve thousand fields instead? To know the mystery, we have to talk about the origin of the numeral "Xishuang".

Xishuangbanna, called Menglu in ancient times, means the place where Dai lived. Dai Lu, a branch of the Dai nationality, is called Shuidai in Chinese, and its main settlement is Xishuangbanna today. According to the historical data of Dai language, the book "Two States in the West" records that Banghuang, Bangpa, Banghan, Bangluo, Bangshao, Banghei, Banglan, Bangmo, Wilfried Bungei,