旧时水车车水排灌为农村大事，谚云：“小满动三车（三车指的是丝车、油车、水车）。”水车例于小满时启动。此前，农户以村圩为单位举行“抢水”仪式，行于海宁一带，有演习之意。多由年长执事者约集各户，确定日期，安排准备，至是日黎明即群行出动，燃起火把于水车基上吃麦糕、麦饼、麦团，待执事者以鼓锣为号，群以击器相和，踏上小河汉上事先装好的水车，数十辆一齐踏动，把河水引灌入田，至河浜水光方止。祭车神亦为农村古俗，传说“车神”为白龙，农家在车水前于车基上置鱼肉、香烛等祭拜之，特殊之处为祭品中有白水一杯，祭时泼入田中，有祝水源涌旺之意。以上旧俗表明了农民对水利排灌的重视。
Offering sacrifice to the Deity of Waterwheel“抢水”仪式
The waterwheel is an important tool for irrigation. A saying goes, “Three things start in Grain buds, filature, tanker and waterwheel.” Before the start of waterwheels, villagers perform a ceremony for “capturing water.” Senior citizens usually arrange the date and make preparations for the waterwheel ceremony. On the day of the ceremony, every household gets up at dawn and lights a torch. They eat semolina cakes, semolina pies and semolina rolls on waterwheels. When the leader sounds the drum and the gong (signaling the start of the ceremony), all echo by beating instruments. Then they go to the river and start several scores of waterwheels filled with water. Thus water is led to farmlands, to achieve the purpose of irrigation. Offering a sacrifice to the deity of waterwheel is an old rural tradition. According to legends, the deity of waterwheel is a white dragon. People place fish and meat and scented candles in front of the waterwheel. One special thing among the offerings is a glass of water. They spill it on farmlands during the ritual. This represents their wish of having enough water for farming. This tradition demonstrates the importance attached to irrigation and drainage.
