Friday afternoon, November 21, 2008 sunny
Yunnan Tourism in 2008 (Travel Notes, X)
Feathers of the Green Peacock - Olive Dam (Part 2)
After coming out of the bamboo house of the Dai family, we went to a Buddhist temple with the characteristics of the Dai family—Menghan Chunman Buddhist Temple. The pagodas and temples show the strong characteristics of Theravada Buddhism. They bowed devoutly in front of the Buddha and wished their family and friends all the best.
Outside the gate of the Great Buddha Temple, several Dai girls stand in front of the gate of the Great Buddha Temple and wait for your arrival. Some enter the temple to visit, some take pictures of the exterior of the temple, some take photos with peacocks, and some buy small handicrafts.
This Buddhist temple with a long history is also called "Manchunman Great Buddhist Temple". According to records, it was built in the Sui Dynasty more than 1400 years ago. It was restored and rebuilt on the original site of "Jingpiao Buddhist Temple", the royal temple of the ancient Dai Dynasty. "Jingpiao Buddhist Temple" was built by a Dai king named Bolong in the history of the Dai nationality to commemorate the deceased princess Nan Shaweibian. The concubine believed in Buddhism all her life, so the Dai king visited the temple in person every festival and held a large-scale puja to commemorate her concubine and promote Buddhism. According to historical records: "Jingpiao Buddhist Temple" was first built in the Ming Dynasty. It is one of the landmark buildings symbolizing Twelve Banna of Southern Buddhism and an important place for Buddhist activities in Banna. The building was destroyed in the war in 2883 of the Buddhist calendar (that is, 1848 AD, during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty), and it has been more than 170 years since then. The Buddhist temple began to be rebuilt in 2005. A large-scale land consecration ceremony was held on March 9 of the same year, and a grand foundation-laying consecration ceremony for the main hall was held on May 9, 2005. During the construction of the main hall, a large number of silver coins and silver boxes were unearthed , Buddhist ritual supplies, etc. The first phase of the Buddhist temple was completed on November 3, 2007. When it was completed, 108 eminent monks from home and abroad were invited to hold a grand consecration ceremony for the Buddhist temple. There were as many as 650,000 Buddhist believers of all ethnic groups from inside and outside the state.
The religious belief of the Dai people is Theravada Buddhism, and Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and other countries in South and Southeast Asia all follow Theravada Buddhism. Regarding the distinction between Hinayana and Hinayana, in the earliest days, it meant praise or derogation, but now it is just a title and has no other meaning.
When the boys of the Dai nationality reach the age of seven or eight, they have to become monks in Buddhist temples for a few years, and they can return to vulgarity in three to five years (this is a rule that must be followed in all generations), so basically the Dai people have Buddhist temples in their villages. The Manchunman and Manting ancient Buddhist temples in the Dai Nationality Park have a history of more than 1,400 years. They are the oldest Buddhist temples in Xishuangbanna. Now they mainly show Buddhist cultural activities to tourists, such as worshiping Buddha, chanting scriptures, and worshiping Buddha. We were at the Manchunman Ancient Buddhist Temple. We just took a look inside the temple and didn’t enter the main hall, because you need to take off your shoes when entering the temple to worship the Buddha. There were no Buddhist activities that day, and the Buddhist hall was empty. I don’t believe in Buddhism at all, and photos are not allowed inside. , so I didn't go in, just glanced at the two doors.
The Buddhist temples of the Dai nationality are called "wa" in the Dai language, and are generally built in the most beautiful and prominent places in the village. The pagodas of the ancient Buddhist temples of the Dai family are also resplendent with golden walls and majestic. The photos taken from outside the main entrance of Manchunman Scenic Area with Buddhist temples and pagodas as the background are the symbols of Xishuangbanna's tourism promotion and the theme stage background of the "Mengbalanasi" song and dance performance. Because the pagodas of the Dai people are very similar to the pagodas in Thailand and Myanmar, they are called "Myanmar pagodas" by the locals. The pagodas are layered on top of each other, painted with gold and color, as if they are about to fly. The magnificent, exquisite and ancient Buddhist temples and pagodas show the long-term influence of Buddhism and their extraordinary status in the hearts of Dai people.
According to reports, the most famous pagoda in Xishuangbanna is the Manfeilong Pagoda. It is located on the top of the mountain behind the Manfeilong Village in Damenglong, Jinghong, 70 kilometers away from Jinghong, the state capital. Some people call it the "Sun Pagoda". Towers spring up like bamboo shoots. Some people call it the "White Tower" because of its whiteness. It's a pity that we didn't have the chance to see it during this trip.
The Bodhi tree and the quietly flowing Lancang River face each other closely. I don’t know when a tree grew from the middle of the tower or a tree grew from the side of the tower to surround the tower, forming a strange phenomenon that the tower is surrounded by trees and trees. landscape. In fact, this is a kind of plant parasitic phenomenon. It should be that there are towers first, and then trees. The Dai people have always regarded it as a sacred tree. It is said that the Buddha Sakyamuni sat in this tree for seven days and seven nights when he went to Menghan to preach. Now, every Buddhist event and festival, people will come here to worship.
After visiting the scenery in the park, I took the battery car in the park to another village after more than ten minutes. I heard beautiful Dai songs in the distance. The singing and sound of singing and dancing performances. The singing and dancing performance inside is free to watch, and it is an open-air large-scale singing and dancing performance venue that can accommodate more than a thousand people. We watched the unique large-scale Dai singing and dancing performance here, while resting and watching the colorful performances of nearly a hundred Xiao Bu Shao (little girls) and Xiao Bu Mao (boys) dressed in gorgeous national costumes. The content ranges from ordinary people to court aristocrats, from daily labor to singing love, from singing and dancing to passionate and wild. It was a feast of gluttony, refreshing. It also allows us to better understand the splendid national culture of the Dai people.
The Dai people are good at dancing. The famous Dai dancer Dao Meilan and the Bai dancer Yang Liping who is famous for dancing the Dai dance are both golden peacocks flying high from the land of Xishuangbanna. It can be described as a feast for the eyes and ears. After the singing and dancing performance, I immediately came to the splashing water square opposite the singing and dancing performance venue, grabbed a favorable position, and waited to watch the splashing water performance.
Peacocks and elephants are the most admired totems of the Dai people. The Water-Splashing Festival is the most solemn festival for the Dai people. It is also the festival with the greatest influence and the largest number of participants among ethnic minority festivals in Yunnan. The Water-Splashing Festival is the New Year of the Dai calendar. It is held in June and July of the Dai calendar every year. The time is about mid-April (13th to 15th) in the Gregorian calendar. The festival usually lasts for 3 days. The first two days are for seeing off the old, and the last day is for welcoming the new. I hope to send away the diseases and disasters in the past year, and pray for a smooth and good year in the new year. It is said that the first day is called "Mai Day" in Dai language, which is similar to New Year's Eve in the lunar calendar; For the beginning of the year, people regard this day as the most beautiful and auspicious day. In the early morning of the festival, men, women and children of the Dai nationality put on festive costumes, carry clear water, first go to the Buddhist temple to bathe the Buddha, and then start splashing water on each other to wish each other good luck, happiness and health. People danced and shouted "Water! Water! Water!", the sound of drums and gongs resounded through the sky, and the water of blessings splashed everywhere. The scene was really spectacular.
The Water-Splashing Festival of the Dai people is also known as "Buddha Festival", and it is called "Bimai" (meaning New Year) in the Dai language. The Dai people in the Dehong area of Xishuangbanna also call this festival "Shanghan" and "Shangjian". In Sanskrit, it means turnover, change and transfer, which means that the sun has been in the zodiac for a week and begins to transition to the new year. Achang, De'ang, Brown, Wa and other ethnic groups celebrate this festival. Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and other countries also celebrate Songkran.
The Water-Splashing Festival is generally held in the middle of June in the Dai calendar (that is, about ten days before and after the Qingming Festival in the lunar calendar), and is one of the most solemn traditional festivals in Xishuangbanna. Its content includes folk activities, art performances, economic and trade exchanges and other categories. Specific festival activities include water splashing, swinging, dragon boat racing, Buddha bathing, chanting, Zhangha singing, peacock dance, and white elephant dance performances.
On "Wheat Day", people will gather flowers and green leaves to worship in Buddhist temples early in the morning, and bring clear water to "bath Buddha" - to wash the dust of Buddha statues. After the "Buddha Bathing" is over, the collective splashing of water on each other begins. Groups of young men and women used various containers to hold water, poured out of the streets and alleys, chased and played, sang and danced, courted love, and splashed on everyone. "Water splashes, the Dai family is crazy", "splashing wet, happy life"! The water flowers that symbolize auspiciousness, happiness and health are blooming in the air, and people splash freely, laugh loudly, get soaked all over, and are very excited...
The Songkran Festival is the New Year of the Dai people. It originated in India and is a ritual of the ancient Brahmanism, which was later absorbed by Buddhism. It was introduced to the Dai people in Yunnan, China through Myanmar from the end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century. With the deepening of the influence of Buddhism in the Dai area, the Water-Splashing Festival has been handed down as a national custom for hundreds of years. In the process of spreading the Water-Splashing Festival, the Dai people gradually combined it with their own national myths and legends, endowing the Water-Splashing Festival with more magical meaning and national color. Now, this festival has become the most important folk festival of the Dai people. During the festival, Dai people, men, women and children all wear festive costumes, carry clear water, first go to the Buddhist temple to bathe the Buddha, and then start splashing water on each other. The splashed clear water symbolizes auspiciousness, happiness and health. , a symbol of sweet love.
Songkran "Love" - lost packets. During the Water-Splashing Festival, unmarried young men and women of the Dai nationality find love and cultivate happiness. They like to go to the forest glade to play the game of "losing bags". The flower bag in the girl's hand is carefully made of beautiful floral cloth, and it is a token of love. It contains tissue paper, cottonseed, etc., with five flower spikes on the four corners and the center. On the day of throwing the bags, the girls try their best to dress up, and then they come to the "booking place" with flower umbrellas and small flower bags. They line up with the boys on both sides, with a distance of thirty or forty steps, and start throwing flower bags at each other. If the young man can't catch the flower bag thrown by the girl, he has to put the flowers prepared in advance on the girl's hair; if the girl can't catch the bag thrown by the young man, he has to put the flowers on the young man's chest... Young men and women get acquainted with each other by dropping and receiving bags. In this way, they gradually chose each other, and both of them left the crowd to go to a secluded place to talk about love, and a romantic love story began.
Songkran "Power" - Dragon Boat Race. During the Songkran Festival, there are also many entertainment competitions (activities), such as dragon boat races, which are one of the most exciting events of the Songkran Festival. Dragon boat races are often held on the "Maipaya Wanma" (the third day) of the Songkran Festival. On that day, people dressed in festive costumes gathered on the banks of the Lancang River to watch the dragon boat race. There are dragon boats in green and colorful moored on the river, and dozens of strong sailors are sitting on each boat. When the order sounds, groups of dragon boats in red and green will shout "hey hey hey" amidst the sound of "imposing" gongs. In the sound of whistles, they cut through the waves, flew forward like arrows, and moved forward bravely. Suddenly, the entire river was filled with drums, gongs, trumpets, and cheers. Tourists are attracted to the Lancang River, adding a lot of tension and joy to the festival, bringing the festival to a climax...
Putting high rises is another reserved program of the Songkran Festival. It is a kind of fireworks made by the Dai people and is often set off at night. The main thing is to fill the bottom of the bamboo pole with gunpowder and other ingredients, put it on the high-shooting frame built with bamboo before the festival, set up the lifting frame, and connect the lead wire. When raising the height, igniting the fuse and burning the gunpowder will generate a strong thrust, pushing the bamboo into the sky like a rocket. Bamboo exhales white smoke and makes a whistling sound. At the same time, it emits gorgeous fireworks in the air, like clusters of flowers, dazzling and wonderful. On the ground, there were cheers and applause one after another, and the voices of discussion and praise were endless, so it was very lively. Gao Sheng flew higher and farther to the village, and people felt that it was more glorious and auspicious. The higher and farther the stockade flies, the more glorious and auspicious it is for people. The winner will also receive a prize.
Putting Kongming lanterns is also a unique activity in the Dai area. At night, people light candles and candles in the open space of the square, put them in big homemade "balloons", and use the buoyancy of the air to release Kongming lanterns into the sky. Bright Kongming lanterns fly higher and higher and farther away in the dark night. People use this to commemorate the ancient sage Kong Ming (Zhuge Liang).
In addition, there are river boats, elephant foot dance, peacock dance, cockfighting, etc., which are also activities during the Songkran Festival. In recent years, folklore inspections, economic and trade negotiations, etc. have also been added to make the activities of the Songkran Festival more colorful. The Songkran Festival is held simultaneously in Xishuangbanna and Dehong prefectures every year, both of which can be reached directly from Kunming by plane.
From April 13th to 15th, 1961, Premier Zhou Enlai came to Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, the beautiful hometown of peacocks, to celebrate the annual Dai New Year Water-Splashing Festival with people of all ethnic groups in the frontier. Back then Jinghong traffic was blocked. After Premier Zhou arrived in Simao by plane, he changed to a car. The Lancang River Bridge is under construction and can only be crossed by ferry. With the arrival of the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China, the small town was boiling, and people rushed to tell each other, helping the old and the young, hugging the streets and docks with flowers in their arms, and welcoming the people's Prime Minister with the highest etiquette of the nation.
April in Xishuangbanna is the season when Phoenix flowers are in full bloom. Under the flaming phoenix tree, Premier Zhou happily changed into Dai costumes, holding a silver basin and splashing water on each other to bless each other. Since then, Jinghong in Xishuangbanna has gradually become famous all over the country and even in the world. The scale of the Songkran Festival has become larger and larger.
The state attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage,
The folk custom has been included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list with the approval of the State Council.
There are many legends about the origin of splashing water:
The first kind of legend is that a long time ago, there was a vicious demon king who had magic in his body. no. He possesses extraordinary mana, is arrogant and arrogant, and is domineering and evil all day long. At that time, the sky had sixteen levels, and he became the overlord of one of them. He oppressed and looted the people and did all kinds of evil. He already had six beautiful wives, but if any family had a beautiful daughter, he would take it as his wife. Once, he saw a princess named Nan Zongbu who was more beautiful than all six of his wives, so he snatched her away and made her his seventh wife.
One year in June, which was the day of the New Year in the world, the Demon King celebrated the New Year with rice dumpling, and invited demon officials and generals to drink and have fun in the palace. After drinking for three rounds, both the host and guest are already drunk. Nan Zongbu took the opportunity to praise the devil: "My noble king, you have boundless magic power and noble virtue. With your prestige, you can conquer heaven, hell, and the world. You should be the master of the three realms." Satisfied, he pondered for a while, then turned his face and said to his beloved wife: "I can indeed conquer the Three Realms, and no one knows my weakness." Nan Zongbu then asked: "Your Majesty has such magic power, how can there be weakness? ?” The Demon King replied in a low voice: “I’m afraid that someone will pull my hair and strangle me, which will separate my body and family. How can the great king of the Three Realms be afraid of hair?" The Demon King said in a low voice, "Although a hair is small, my hair will strangle my neck, and I will not be able to live."
After Nan Zongbu heard this, he secretly made up his mind. So, she continued to pour wine for the devil until the banquet was over, and she helped the devil to bed and fell asleep. At this time, she carefully pulled out one of the devil's hair, and strangled it on the devil's neck before the devil woke up. The devil's head fell to the ground immediately, and every drop of blood dripping from his head turned into a ball of fire, burning blazingly, and spreading rapidly to the world. At this time, Nan Zongbu hurriedly picked up the devil's head, and the flames on the ground were extinguished, but as soon as the head was put down, the fire started again. So, the six wives also came, and they took turns holding the devil's head so that the fire would stop burning.
Later, Nan Zongbu returned to the world, but she was still covered in blood. People poured water on her to wash off the blood on her body. The blood was finally washed away, and Nan Zongbu lived happily in the world. After the death of Zongbu Nan, in order to commemorate her, people splash water on each other every year to wash away the dirt on their bodies with clean water and usher in an auspicious new year.
Another legend is that a long time ago, a Dai village living in the depths of the dense forest by the Jinsha River was in danger of being engulfed by the fire because of a forest fire. A Dai man named Li Liang, in order to protect the The village, not afraid of danger, rushed out of the fire net, picked buckets of river water from the Jinsha River, and splashed the mountain fire. After a day and a night of hard work, the mountain fire was finally extinguished and the villagers were rescued. Li Liang sweated dry because of exhaustion , thirsty and fell on the top of the mountain. The villagers brought clear water to quench Li Liang's thirst, but he could not quench his thirst after drinking ninety-nine waters. Later, Li Liang threw himself into the river, turned into a giant dragon, and went down the river. Some people said that he became a big tree. In order to commemorate Li Liang, every year on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, the Dai people clean every house, sprinkle green pine leaves, and build a half-mile-long green shed with green trees by the selected river or well. The shed is covered with thick pine needles, and there are sinks filled with water on both sides. When the sun is shining at noon, people walk under the shed and sprinkle each other with pine branches to express their nostalgia for Li Liang and their best wishes for the New Year. This activity has continued to this day and has become a festival for the Dai people to bid farewell to the old, welcome the new and wish auspiciousness - the Water-Splashing Festival.
The third kind of legend is that in ancient times, a demon god named Ping Madaracha disobeyed the will of the gods and did whatever he wanted, making the world unbalanced by rain and drought. How to punish this skilled demon? The wise god Yingdati had a plan, that is, to dress up as a handsome young man to get close to the seven daughters of Pingmadian Daracha and tell them the truth. These seven girls are kind-hearted by nature, and they were resentful of their father's crimes. At this time, they decided to kill their father and eliminate harm for the world. One day, they finally found out the "secret" of their father's life and death, and took the opportunity to get him drunk, quietly plucked one of his hairs, made a bow Saizai (that is, a bow made of heartstrings), and broke it. Devil's head. But the head that fell to the ground turned into a new disaster. In an instant, the evil fire was raging, the bamboo building was burned down, the crops were scorched, and the seven girls took turns hugging the devil until it rotted. Every time they take turns, they bring clean water and splash each other to remove the dirt. The courageous actions and achievements of the seven sisters in righteously destroying their relatives were warmly praised by the people all over the world. Deep nostalgia turned into eternal respect. Also in order to commemorate the publicity of Mahapan's restoration of the law of wind, rain, cold and heat, people set the day when the head of the demon king Panmadian Daracha was rotten as the day of splashing water. On this day, after bathing the Buddha, people splash each other with clear water and bless each other for auspiciousness, well-being and long-lasting happiness.
There is also a legend that a disobedient son worked on the mountain on the seventh day after the Ching Ming Festival. He saw the scene of the chicks feeding back, and he was inspired and determined to treat his mother well. At this time, his mother was walking up the mountain. My son accidentally slipped while delivering food. Her son came to help her, but she thought he was coming to beat her, so she slammed her head against a tree and died. The son was so remorseful that he cut down the tree and carved a statue of his mother. Every year on the seventh day after Qingming, the statue would be washed in warm water sprinkled with petals. Later it evolved into a custom.
"Water-splashing Festival" is a major feature of the folk customs of the Dai nationality. In order to show the charm of water-splashing to tourists and let tourists feel the joy brought by the Water-splashing Festival, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture Olive Dam Dai Nationality Garden specially built a water-splashing performance square, so that Dai girls and Tourists splash and play in the pool. Every afternoon, the Dai Nationality Garden launches the project of "Celebrate the Water-Splashing Festival Every Day", allowing tourists from all over the world to celebrate the Water-Splashing Festival with the local Dai people, so every day here is a Water-Splashing Festival. Although it is a performance, the scene is still moving. During the water splashing performance, tourists can use money to rent and change clothes to participate in the water splashing, but there are not many participants, and most of them are here to watch the fun, and those with DVs and cameras are busy shooting.
The splashing water square is so lively. There is a large pool in the center of the square. In the middle of the pool is a sculpture of a two-headed elephant carrying a Buddhist temple. Surrounding the sculpture is a circle of nozzles spraying water. The whole square is filled with a festive atmosphere, colorful, a world of flowers, and a sea of people. It suddenly occurred to me that there are not so many people in other scenic spots! But here people seem to fall from the sky, so many people appear at once, it feels crowded everywhere. Thinking about it, it’s actually not surprising. After all, this is a grand festival performance of the Dai people, because Xishuangbanna is an area dominated by the Dai people. Every year when the Dai calendar celebrates the New Year, the government puts people first. Let the whole continent People have a seven-day holiday, so that people of all ethnic groups in the entire Banna Prefecture can celebrate their own festival together - the Songkran Festival.
Since today is an unofficial water-splashing festival, it is just a performance, so many ceremonies are naturally omitted. The performance is about to begin, and nearly a hundred Dai girls are dressed in gorgeous costumes to perfectly reflect their delicate figures. The actors from the singing and dancing show just now also came to add to the fun. They held colorful parasols and danced around a pool with a diameter of tens of meters, accompanied by the sound of gongs and drums. The language blesses, encourages and pays tribute to the tourists, and the surrounding pavilions are crowded with spectators. Some tourists also joined in at the host's invitation. Then according to the host's order, everyone walked into the pool and splashed water on each other with a basin. Splashing water is gentle and elegant.
The host led everyone to shout "Water--! Water--! Water--!" with the sound of gongs and drums! With an order, the splashing of water officially began! Immediately there were splashes everywhere, and the scene was warm and moving! Girls of the Dai ethnic group hold colorful plastic basins in their hands, scoop some water from the pool, and walk around the field, dipping their hands in water that symbolizes happiness and auspiciousness, and pouring it on tourists. Suddenly, basins of water hit you from all directions, and you were soaked from head to toe, and you really became a person made of water. Every hair is dripping with water, and water is gurgling on every inch of skin. The water splashed in front of you makes you unable to stand still, one basin after another, you can't open your eyes, you can hardly breathe, there is water in your nose, mouth, ears, everywhere. The water splashed from behind makes you unable to look back and find no one to fight back. This is the water of blessing, the water of auspiciousness, and the water of joy. Whoever is splashed the most will be the most blessed person and the most beautiful person on the Songkran Festival.
To tell the truth, people are willing to pour water on respected and respected people. Everyone pours water on each other, blesses each other, and looks at each other. The most excited are those big girls and boys. They bring basins of water to the crowd In the middle, pouring you thoroughly from head to toe, there is really nowhere to hide, nowhere to hide. Some good-for-nothings began to provoke—splashing water on their companions, and the water-splashing battle began! There is no distinction between men and women, young and old, you and me, you splash me, I splash you, the younger sisters are all the targets of being splashed. The "water power" of the boys is even stronger! In a blink of an eye, each of them became a "drowned chicken".
The splashing water is also in various patterns, such as mandarin ducks playing in the water, which is very beautiful. This is a watery world, a wet world, a crystal clear world, a carnival world, a happy world.
The water-splashing performance is the last program of visiting the Dai Nationality Garden, and it is also the climax of visiting the Dai Nationality Garden. The performance battle lasted for more than half an hour. The host asked all the water-splashing participants to enter the pool, men and women stood in two circles, and the battle began again amidst the rapid sound of gongs and drums. The tourists who watched the performance also seized the opportunity to take pictures. I took this happy scene with my camera, but my body was still wet. Today I really felt the joy of splashing water. You can forget who you are, where you came from, the people who gave you pain, and the hopelessness Tomorrow, don't be a gentleman, don't be a lady, indulge yourself freely, go wild for a while, what a rare joy, forget everything, just for the joy in front of you. In this happy festival moment, no age, no nationality, no matter where you come from, you can pour on others, be happy like a child, be naughty like a child, play wild like a child, enjoy the real life like a child , pure joy. When the water of happiness and auspiciousness is poured on you, no one will make fun of your wet and stupid appearance, no one will accuse you of being naughty and reckless, no one will be surprised by your wildness and unrestrainedness under the cover of your appearance. Not angry, only happy, not resentful, only laughing. Take off the mask, let go of the so-called dignity, and throw away all the pretense. This is the most reasonable and legal moment in the world to splash others with water. This is a legal carnival. How wonderful it is for people who are splashed to be as happy as children. There was laughter everywhere....
The whole water-splashing performance ended in a climax.