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Dai Minority: Festivals and FoodHolidays and Celebrations
Fall Volume: 2017 Issue: 24(3) pages: 16 to 17
These are the water-splashing folk also known as
the water-sprinkling ethnic population. They enjoy
this event beginning on the third day of their New
Year, a festival that occurs around the middle of April. It
is their Lunar New Year, and
they dress in their finest and
celebrate it. Designated as a
Chinese National Intangible
Holiday, during its first day
or two. On this holiday, they
wash all Buddha statues,
and then make merry, watch
dramas about the Dai, fly
lanterns called kongming
with candles in them, and
after dark, let them fly into
the heavens. They also fly
kites, make music, and do lots
of feasting during this Buddha
birthday bash celebrating this
icon they adore.
Their water-splashing festival
is also celebrated in Cambodia,
Laos, Myanmar, and
Thailand, and everywhere
Dai people live as this Dai
Buddhist holiday is enjoyed
by all Dai.
It has been enjoyed since
the 12th century CE, and is a
holiday the Dai adore. Before
the holiday, they clean their
houses and make them spic
and span. They prepare and
cook many fine Dai foods,
have a Reunion Dinner the
night before, ala New Year’s
Eve, and every guest who
does drop in this night or any
day of this week-long holiday
are invited to enjoy it with
them. As already indicated, the
Reunion dinner starts the
night before, but if all the
family can not get there for it,
they may delay it until the night of the day it begins.
They like having all the family there, gathering at the
home of the eldest, space permitting. Visiting elders and
others are invited to join on the second day, and their
water splashing events, as seen in the picture on this
page, usually begins on the third day. Water splashing is celebrating
the coming year, good health,
and their good fortune. The
water splashed on this holiday
is to wash away any ill fortune
left over from the year before,
and to set the tone for the
coming year not wanting any
this year either. The splashing
usually begins on the third day
and on that day they also have
dragon boat races, fireworks
at night called gaosheng, and
singing and dancing day and
night on every day of this
upbeat holiday. For the Dai, water is their God
of Life. This god brings his
people happiness, holiness,
and light. For them, clean
water early in the day makes
everyone happy because
together, they are washing
away thoughts of any disaster
that did or might befall them.
Doing so, they chase each
other with pails of water for
good luck, and they bang on
elephant drums for happiness.
They also beat gongs to scare
away evil spirits as they are
making merry. Something else happens
during these festivities. On
this holiday young folk seek
marriage mates. Young girls
having already made small
decorated cotton bags to
throw at the boys to attract
their attention. If the boy it
is aimed at fails to catch the
one thrown at him, he needs
to put flowers in her hair. If she fails to catch one he has
thrown back at her, she must put a flower in the button
hole of his shirt. Playing back and forth this way, if
a boy and a girl take a fancy to each other, they can
sneak away to a quiet place and initiate their romantic
relationship; and many do.
Before this festival, girls and their mothers have
prepared sticky rice cakes and special dishes for each
other, for their guests, and for any close friends and
family who drop by. They also use them when calling
on neighbors and friends to wish them the best for the
coming year. In the streets, young and old do peacock and white
elephant dances and they all love watching the races
from the river banks. In front, that is in the bow of
most boats, someone will shoot one or more arrows as
they cheer each other on. Many boats have gaosheng or gunpowder-filled
bamboo tubes at the ready. They ignite them and let
them ascend upward. This is both fun and a contest.
The tube that goes the highest will win a prize and that
person will get lots of kudos if they are the winner or
one of them. They say these tubes are tribute to their gods, the water
god included. They are also tributes to their sages,
their folklore, and to each other, and they have been
making these items for months in anticipation of this
event. The picture on this page is a girl doing a ‘bamboo pole
dance’ one of many events done during this water splashing
holiday. |