“一夫多妻”的“天堂”

With a total of 181 members， this Indian family residing at Baktawng Village in India's north-east state of Mizoram， is probably the largest in the world. 67-year-old Ziona， who heads the family， lives in a four-storeyed purple mansion with his 39 wives， 94 children and 14 daughter-in-laws and over 40 grandchildren.

印度一家庭祖孫三代181人 堪稱“全球最大家庭”————印度東北部米佐拉姆邦農村生活著印度最大的家庭，這戶人家共有181名成員，所有人生活在同一棟四層建筑里。67歲的齊奧納共有39位妻子、94名兒女、14個兒媳婦和超過40個孫子、孫女。

Is polygamy “paradise” or “hell”? Through thousands of couples’ lives， the reporter can feel the enthusiasm of its supporters as well as the helplessness of its opponents. In Cultural Anthropology， people refer to the custom of one man marrying more than one wife as “polygamy”.

Polygamy has been abolished gradually as human civilization develops， but as an old marriage system， it still exists in some countries with religious traditions and has not been treated as a taboo. It is mainly in Islamic countries and regions like western Asian and Africa， such as Libya， Saudi Arabia， Jordan， and Ethiopia. In addition， in some countries where “monogamy” is clearly stated in the law， there are still phenomena of polygamy， such Indonesia， US， and Thailand， especially in Islamic groups. It’s also worth mentioning that although the US is a country of monogamy， but polygamy still exists in some religions， for example the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

“一夫多妻”是“天堂”，還是“地獄”？透過百種千樣的夫妻生活狀態，記者能感受到追崇者的熱情，也能感受到反對者的無奈。在人類文化學中，人們將一個男人跟多于一個妻子的婚姻習俗，稱之為“一夫多妻”，這也是多偶配制的通常形式。

“一夫多妻”制，隨著人類文明的發展已慢慢被廢除，但作為一種古老的婚姻制度，在一些擁有宗教傳統的國家依然存在，且毫不避諱，主要集中在西亞和非洲等信奉伊斯蘭教的國家和地區，如利比亞、沙特阿拉伯、約旦、埃塞爾比亞等。另外，也有一些法律明文規定的“一夫一妻制”國家，也同樣存在“一夫多妻”現象，如印度尼西亞、美國、泰國等，主要為信奉伊斯蘭教的群體。值得一提的是，雖然美國從整體上實行“一夫一妻”制，但是有個別宗教教派依然實行“一夫多妻”制，如美國“基本教義派的耶穌基督后期圣徒教會”。

Ziona Chana is an outstanding representative of polygamy. He is over 70， and he has 39 wives and over 90 children. Ziona Chana is a pious religious adherent and the sect he belongs to allows unlimited times of marriage. Ziona said， “I think I’m very lucky to have 39 wives and become the head of the largest family in the world.”

“Polygamy is not what you wish or what he wishes but Allah said in the Quran”. Badrul Amin is a religious guru in Malaysia with two Doctor Degrees. He has two wives. In the interview， he told the reporter he is very happy. His two wives get along very well and make his life very pleasant.

Monogamy is broadly recognized in the world and accepted by many governments and national leaders， but there are still people with different opinions. President of South Africa Jacob Zuma is an incumbent president who firstly pursues monogamy in history. In April， 2012 when Jacob Zuma welcomed his 79th birthday， he declared to the world that he was about to marry his sixth wife. He once said in a TV interview， “many politicians have mistresses and illegitimate children， but they just hidden the fact from the public and pretended to support the monogamy. I like it to be more public， and I would like take the responsibilities more than those western politicians who have many mistresses. I love my wives and I’m proud of my children.”

齊奧納·查納是“一夫多妻”制的“杰出代表”，他先后共娶了39名妻子，并擁有90多名子女。耄耋之年的齊奧納·查納是個宗教的忠實擁護者，他所在的教派允許教徒無限次的娶妻。齊奧納說，“我認為我自己非常幸運擁有39個妻子，成為世界上最大家庭的一家之主。”

“‘一夫多妻’既不是你所想，也不是他所想，而是真主阿拉在《古蘭經》上說的”。巴都阿敏是馬來西亞有名的宗教師，擁有博士學歷的他，有兩個妻子。在記者的采訪中，巴都阿敏坦言，自己很幸福，兩個老婆相處得很好，讓他的生活很快樂。

“一夫一妻”制作為全球公認的婚姻制度，為各國政府和政要所認同，但也不乏獨行者。南非總統雅各布·祖瑪是南非首位奉行一夫多妻制的在任總統。2012年4月，雅各布·祖瑪在他的79歲大壽之際，向世人宣告將迎娶第六任妻子。祖馬曾在一次電視采訪中說道:“許多政治人物私下有情婦和私生子女，卻對外界隱瞞，裝作自己堅持“一夫一妻”制，我更喜歡公開，我比那些在外面左擁右抱的西方政客更加愿意承擔責任。我愛我的妻子們，我為我的孩子們驕傲。”

As one of the few countries of polygamy， Cameroon provides the men with a “lucky” life. Walking on the streets of Cameroon， foreign young women may be asked by the local men: “Would you like to be my next wife?” In the polygamist family of Cameroon， every wife has their own residence and every husband has their own house. Each wife shall live in the husband’s house according to the “scheduling table”. Of course， the wives who are young and beautiful and win the husbands’ hearts can spend more time with the husbands.

Another man who is as “happy” as Cameroonian is 48-year-old British merchant for secondhand furniture and former Rabbi of Judaism Philip Sharp who has married 7 “wives” during 10 years. In daily life， his wives would prepare meals and arrange daily matters for their husband according to the “duty list”. Every time when one of his wives wants to live with him， she would text him to ask. Philip told the reporter that: “Every wife of mine would live in my room for one or two weeks， and then I will tell her that she should go back to her own bedroom.”

In addition， it’s known that polygamy is also legitimate in Morocco with certain legal restraints. In Egypt， polygamy is not banned by law but there are not many families of polygamy. Especially for the people who are highly educated， they tend to stick to monogamy.

作為世界上僅存不多的“一夫多妻”制國家，喀麥隆的男人生活可謂“艷福不淺”。走在喀麥隆街頭，外來年輕女子可能會被當地男人詢問:“你想成為我的第幾任老婆？”在喀麥隆，一夫多妻的家庭，每個老婆有自己的住所，丈夫也有自己的房屋，每個老婆按照“排班表”去到丈夫的住所生活。當然，年輕貌美，深得丈夫喜愛的老婆與丈夫獨處的時間相對更多。

同喀麥隆男人一樣“幸福”的，還有48歲的英國二手家具商、前猶太教拉比菲利浦·夏普。在10年期間他娶了7個“妻子”。在日常生活中，菲利浦的妻子們會根據“值班表”為丈夫準備餐食及處理日常家務。每當菲利浦的“妻子”想和他同房時，對方就會發短信詢問，菲利浦對記者說:“我的每個妻子都會在我的房間中住上一到兩周，然后我會對她說，她應該返回自己的臥室生活了。”

據了解，摩洛哥也實行“一夫多妻”制，但是有法律的限制。埃及在法律上并不禁止一夫多妻制，但是真正是“一夫多妻”的家庭很少，尤其是擁有高學歷的人群，基本堅持“一夫一妻”制。