Abstract: The rice culture in Xishuangbanna is inseparable from its rational and effective irrigation system. By the long period of practising, ancestors from Dai nationality formed an irrigation system with tight and vertical management, water conservancy facilities-year-old maintenance, fair and reasonable watershed, strict water regulations, and protection system about water resouces of mountain dam. This system has been effective in promoting the development of the rice culture. After 1949, the introduction of modern irrigation systems have brought terrible impact on the traditional irrigation system. Based on the analysis of the conflicts between tradition and modern, this thesis recommended modern adaptation.