Water-Splashing Festival

The Water-Splashing Festival is the New Year，as well as the most important traditional festival，observed by the Dai nationality in Yunnan Province of China.The festival usually lasts 3-5 days somewhere between early the 6th month and early the 7th month of the Dai calendar.

The second day of the festival，which is the liveliest，sees water splashing.All people，men and women，old and young，taking along buckets or basins，come to broad streets.The streets are lined，on both sides，with containers of clear water which is scent or has petals floating on.When the entertainment begins，festival celebrators splash the water over their relatives，friends or acquaintances，wishing that they would be lucky and free from adversities or diseases.The ways to splash water fall into gentle splashing and violent splashing，depending on how intimate the target isto the splasher and how old the target is.

The gentle splashing is done to venerable elders.In doing it the splasher，while speaking some blessing words，pulls away an elder’s collar and gently tips into the opening a ladle of clean water which flows down the target’s back，while the target should willingly accept the splashing and reciprocate the splasher’s good wishes by blessing.The violent splashing is done to others but the elder.In doing it the splasher is free to splash water，from a gourd ladle，a basin or a pale，over a target，and the target likewise splashes back.

The more water one bears，the happier he feels.All the amusement makers dance，sing，and laugh heartily while splashing，entirely lost in pleasure.Some young men even go to bamboo dwelling houses and splash water over girls there，a symbol of love.

hancheng

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