Thingyan Festival>>
Time: January 10th to 14th of Burmese calendar (i.e. around April 13th in the Western calendar). This is the New Year in Myanmar. It is named because people splash each other, washing the old and welcome the new.
Origin: It is said that in the Three Kingdoms, King of Nanman, Meng Huo dissatisfied, rebelled and defeated many times, and his wife Zhu Rong and himself were captured many times. After "Captured and released seven times", Meng Huo finally sincerely surrendered Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang saw that Nanman people's wisdom was not enlightened, and undressed, so he taught them to use the flag used in the war to make a salon, worn on the body, which is said to be the origin of the Burmese clothing "longyi". In addition, it was in April, the hottest month in Myanmar, so he taught them to splash water to cool off the summer, and then evolved into the custom of today's Thingyan Festival. The origins of the Thingyan Festival in Myanmar are different, and there are many legends. There is a saying that one year, the king of Myanmar met the gods in the palace, and the king of Myanmar was happy. He ordered to spill the mixture of spices and water on the civil and military officials; it means washing old and decontaminating, and welcomes new people.
Activities: The Thingyan Festival has the same meaning to the Burmese as the Chinese New Year. The Burmese called it "January Water Festival", and the Burmese language is "Thingyan", which means "the transition period of the old age", meaning that the new year is about to begin. The New Year in Myanmar was officially started after the transition period of the Thingyan Festival. The entire ritual process lasted three to four days, with the first three days is to send off the old and the last day is to usher in the new. Since the people of Myanmar believed that water is a symbol of purity, it is the source of life, and it is regarded as a god. Therefore, in the New Year, people get up in the morning and enjoy bathing and dressing up. In addition, you can gather your friends and meet in front of the Buddha statue in the temple, holding the Buddha’s birthday ceremony. After the process of Buddha's birthday tribute, friends and relatives sprinkle water on each other and then begin the Thingyan festival for several days to celebrate the New Year. Every year, the festival is full of joy and celebration, and everyone in the streets is crazy and splashing water. It is intended to wash away the mildew, filth and sin of the past year, so that we can welcome the new year with cleanliness. In this way, you can definitely start again in the new year. There are also grades in the Thingyan Festival. Usually, a few drops of water are applied to the elders. The other one will be crazy to splash the water. The person who is splashed can't hide, otherwise it will hide the blessing. The young man will also express his heartfelt affection for the woman she wants by splashing water, and to talk about her love.
Songkran Festival
Time: Thailand's splashing-water festival is also known as the Songkran Festival. The word "Songkran" comes from Sanskrit, and the sun enters a constellation called "Songkran". The sun runs continuously and enters and exits different constellations for a total of twelve times, which is exactly one year. Thailand starts with the annual calendar in June, and the Songkran Festival takes place between June 6 and July 6 in Thai calendar. It is about the seventh day after Qingming, China, i.e. the days from April 13 to April 15 of the Western calendar. it is equivalent to the Chinese New Year.
Origin: According to legend, in ancient times, the Dai family had a pair of lovers. Because the fire devil fell in love with the girl, in order to save the hometown villagers, the girl can only give up love, accompany the fire devil, and kill the fire devil while the fire devil is sleeping. But the fire devil's head caused a fire in the ground, the girl had to hold the fire devil head, and the villagers kept splashing water on the girl in order to save the girl. After that, in order to commemorate the girl, the day was set as Songkran Festival, splashing water has become the custom of the Dai people.
Activities: In ancient Thailand, the Songkran Festival was the New Year. Thais usually celebrates by splashing water. It is also known as the "Water-Splashing Festival." The traditional practice of splashing water means that it can wash away the unsuccessful past year and re-start in the new year. The current Songkran Festival is a lot of interesting ingredients, so when you go to Thailand, if you are splashed with the whole body, don't be angry! The Songkran Festival is a period of slack farming, suitable for holding grand religious activities and folk juggling. Common activities: flying the national flag across the country, bathing Buddha, bathing monks, sprinkling water for the elders, praying for blessing. As the Thai New Year, the Songkran Festival has many wonderful commitments. First of all, it is gratitude, thanks and highlights those who do good deeds and benefit society; the second is to be loyal to the ancestors; the third is to remember their responsibilities to their families; there is also praise for Buddhism and monks; in the end, there is also a claim to be kind and generous. The Thai Yi people also believe that water is a symbol of purity, the source of life, and the god of all things. Therefore, The Dai people in Thailand also believe that water is a symbol of purity, the source of life, and the god of all things. Therefore, on the first day of the New Year, people get up early in the morning to bathe, and also to the Buddhist temple, pray out the Buddha statue. After the process of bathing Buddha's praise, it begins to celebrate the New Year with water splashing activities for several days. In fact, the traditional custom of the Songkran Festival means that the past year has not been smoothed out, and it has re-started in the new year. The current Songkran Festival is dominated by interesting elements.
View image source: Thailand Tourism Bureau
Full Moon Day of Thadingyut >>
Myanmar Full Moon Day of Thadingyut
In the Buddhist country of Myanmar, the Thingyan Festival and the Full Moon Day of Thadingyut are famous festivals. In traditional customs, four festivals in Myanmar are celebrated in the evening, and overseas Chinese collectively refer them to as the Full Moon Day of Thadingyut. It is roughly equivalent to the Mid-Autumn Festival in China. In fact, apart from the "Thingyan Festival" in the New Year, the most important thing is the “Full Moon Day of Thadingyut” that are collectively referred to “Buddhist Lent Day", "The End of Buddhist Lent Day", "Full Moon Day of Tazaungmone", and "Full Moon Day of Tabaung" by local Chinese. During these four festivals, the people will celebrate the candlelight in the evening, and there is a sea of lights everywhere. The countless pagodas in all parts of Myanmar are decorated with a string of small lights. It is therefore named. The origin of the festival is mainly the Burmese people who believe in Buddhism. They are convinced that the sunset of July 15th of the Burmese calendar, lit by candlelight, will welcome the Buddha (Trāyastriṃśa) to return to the world.
Loi Krathong
Activities: After the rainy season, people worship the Phra Kone Ka in the form of floating a water lantern to show their fear and pray that the flood is no longer. On the other hand, the water lantern that drifts with the water also symbolizes taking away all the sins of the past year, and let yourself have the most sincere and innocent heart in the face of the new beginning of the next year, in order to meet all the challenges. The meaning of the floating water lantern also expanded with the changes of the times. For example, the farmers are floating water lanterns to thank the river gods for giving them plenty of water, irrigating crops, and praying for good weather in the coming year; the young men and women sent a message to the water lanterns in the hope that they would find a wishful companion; Buddhists pray for disasters to drift with the water, and happiness come with the waves. The traditional "water lantern" is a shape of a lotus flower in the shape of a long banana leaf, put a bouquet of fragrant incense, a coin, and insert a candle that represents the light of hope. Today, the most lively and grand place in Thailand to celebrate the Lantern Festival is the ancient capital of Sukhothai Kingdom, the birthplace of the water lantern, Sukhothai City. There is an ancient temple in the ancient city, which is located on the small island in the middle of the lake. The citizens and tourists gather here during the festival to float the water lanterns.
At the Damnern Saduak Floating Market, women wear bamboo rafts driving flat rafts, carrying colorful goods, and slowly row in the deep green canal. The soft charm of the water has filled this most classic picture into the "Venice of the East" and has become the most attractive representative image of Bangkok. Damnern Saduak Floating Market is located in Rathaburi Province, with several river tributaries. A long time ago, the locals built a canal, used small rivers to interweave into a dense shipping traffic tunnel, and built the house on the side of the river, becoming a boatnik. Every household has a long and narrow wooden clog, which serves as a means of access to traffic, and a water market is formed at several river crossings to facilitate residents to purchase goods. In fact, in the old days ago, throughout the whole of Thailand, including Bangkok, because of the rivers, the floating market and the boatniks are quite common. Later, after the urbanization of the Bangkok metropolitan area, such a scene is currently only found in the countryside. Residents near Damnern Saduak Floating Market still rely on its market function. From 7:00 am to 8:00 am in the morning, there is a small boat carrying fruits, vegetables, meat, fish and shrimp, etc. The locals are here to buy food. The market will not be ended until 11 o'clock. As the tourism benefits have been developed, the floating market has developed into a concentrated market on the shore. The street vendors sell wood carvings, salons, glazed Chinese porcelain bowls and other souvenirs. European, American and Japanese tourists love to buy here, so it is also called as "European Floating Market".
Vietnamese boatniks
(Source: Epoch Times Cultural Network) The sea is the pride of Vietnam. The river is the lifeblood of Vietnam. There are hundreds of rivers flowing through Vietnam. There is an estuary on the coastline every 20 kilometers, and the inland waterway is just 7,000 kilometers long. In Vietnam, where there is water and rivers, there are people living with water, but the lifestyles of each water are different. Some houses are built on the waterfront, some are boats for the home, and some simply combine the boat and the house into one. The rivers intertwined with each other, like the mothers, feed these various boatniks. Some boatniks do not have a household registration (or even nationality), no formal statistics, no social welfare, and no compulsory education. They are like duckweed without roots in the pond, lacking a land that can be deeply planted. Only the flowing water casts the joys and sorrows of their lives. The boatniks here almost all survive by fishing. They rely on "water" to make living. Each household has a small fish pond surrounded by wooden fences or bamboo fences.
The bamboo fence on the fish pond is a natural farm. The fish caught in the river are farmed in their own fish ponds. Fresh fish can be eaten every day. When there are many catches, they will be sold to the market or replaced with some daily necessities. The canoe is the most basic means of transport for boatniks. Every morning and at around 3 pm, there are many light boats going back and forth between the water and the land. The boat to the river bank is often with a catch for the daily necessities, and the boat off the shore is often loaded with all kinds of items.
Indonesian elevated house
Indonesia was once colonized, but its culture was less affected by the West due to its large area. It is a traditional Muslim country with many domes and minaret buildings visible in the territory. Wooden elevated, high-rise roof both in its front and back, no compartment inside; 4 to 8 families live together, 2 families share a stove, and poultry and livestock are raised under the house.
Myanmar is the world's largest producer of teak, so this forest resource is also used as a building material in traditional elevated houses. Currently, well-preserved centuries-old teak temples or buildings can still be seen in Myanmar. View image source
