The Water-sprinkling festival (simplified Chinese 泼水节 ; traditional Chinese 潑水節; Pinyin: ''Pōshuǐ jié''), is a traditional festival of the
Dai nationality marking the Solar New Year. The Dai are an ethnic minority of China who primarily live in the
and
Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture
The Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture is located in western Yunnan province, People's Republic of China, and is one of the eight autonomous prefectures of the province, bordering Baoshan to the east and Burma's Kachin State to the west. ...
in southern
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
. The predominant religion of the Dai is
Theravada Buddhism
''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...
and religious activities are frequent. The Water-sprinkling festival is one of the most solemn traditional festivals of this nationality. Usually, the festival takes place ten days around the Tomb-sweeping day and lasts for three or four days, it generally occurs according to the Gregorian calendar from April 13 to 15.
On the first day, people row, put to rise(放高升, cultural and artistic performance; on the second day, people sprinkle water crazily; on the third day, the young men and women get together to lost package(丢包) and exchange of goods(物资交流).
Dates in Dai calendar
See also
*
List of festivals in China
The following is an incomplete list of festivals in China, of all types.
Festivals in China
*Cold Food Festival
*Dongzhi Festival
*Duanwu Festival
* Freespace Fest
* Fu Yang Festival
* Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival
*Hong ...
*
Songkran
Songkran is a term derived from the Sanskrit word, ' (or, more specifically, ') and used to refer to the traditional New Year celebrated in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, parts of northeast India, parts of Vietnam an ...
*
List of Buddhist festivals
Japanese, Burmese, Tibetan, Indian, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Chakma, Marma and Barua festivals often show the influence of Buddhist culture. Pagoda festivals in Myanmar are one example. In Tibet, India and Bhutan these festivals may include the ...
References
Folk festivals in China
Buddhist festivals in China
Buddhist holidays
Cultural festivals in China
Spring (season) events in China
{{festival-stub
gan:潑水節
wuu:泼水节
zh-yue:潑水節
zh:泼水节