“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.

印度一家庭祖孙三代181人 堪称“全球最大家庭”――――印度东北部米佐拉姆邦农村生活着印度最大的家庭，这户人家共有181名成员，所有人生活在同一栋四层建筑里。67岁的齐奥纳共有39位妻子、94名儿女、14个儿媳妇和超过40个孙子、孙女。

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”，还是“地狱”？透过百种千样的夫妻生活状态，记者能感受到追崇者的热情，也能感受到反对者的无奈。在人类文化学中，人们将一个男人跟多于一个妻子的婚姻习俗，称之为“一夫多妻”，这也是多偶配制的通常形式。

“一夫多妻”制，随着人类文明的发展已慢慢被废除，但作为一种古老的婚姻制度，在一些拥有宗教传统的国家依然存在，且毫不避讳，主要集中在西亚和非洲等信奉伊斯兰教的国家和地区，如利比亚、沙特阿拉伯、约旦、埃塞尔比亚等。另外，也有一些法律明文规定的“一夫一妻制”国家，也同样存在“一夫多妻”现象，如印度尼西亚、美国、泰国等，主要为信奉伊斯兰教的群体。值得一提的是，虽然美国从整体上实行“一夫一妻”制，但是有个别宗教教派依然实行“一夫多妻”制，如美国“基本教义派的耶稣基督后期圣徒教会”。

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.”

齐奥纳・查纳是“一夫多妻”制的“杰出代表”，他先后共娶了39名妻子，并拥有90多名子女。耄耋之年的齐奥纳・查纳是个宗教的忠实拥护者，他所在的教派允许教徒无限次的娶妻。齐奥纳说,“我认为我自己非常幸运拥有39个妻子，成为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《古兰经》上说的”。巴都阿敏是马来西亚有名的宗教师，拥有博士学历的他，有两个妻子。在记者的采访中，巴都阿敏坦言，自己很幸福，两个老婆相处得很好，让他的生活很快乐。

“一夫一妻”制作为全球公认的婚姻制度，为各国政府和政要所认同，但也不乏独行者。南非总统雅各布・祖玛是南非首位奉行一夫多妻制的在任总统。2012年4月，雅各布・祖玛在他的79岁大寿之际，向世人宣告将迎娶第六任妻子。祖马曾在一次电视采访中说道:“许多政治人物私下有情妇和私生子女，却对外界隐瞒，装作自己坚持“一夫一妻”制，我更喜欢公开，我比那些在外面左拥右抱的西方政客更加愿意承担责任。我爱我的妻子们，我为我的孩子们骄傲。”

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.

作为世界上仅存不多的“一夫多妻”制国家，喀麦隆的男人生活可谓“艳福不浅”。走在喀麦隆街头，外来年轻女子可能会被当地男人询问:“你想成为我的第几任老婆？”在喀麦隆，一夫多妻的家庭，每个老婆有自己的住所，丈夫也有自己的房屋，每个老婆按照“排班表”去到丈夫的住所生活。当然，年轻貌美，深得丈夫喜爱的老婆与丈夫独处的时间相对更多。

同喀麦隆男人一样“幸福”的，还有48岁的英国二手家具商、前犹太教拉比菲利浦・夏普。在10年期间他娶了7个“妻子”。在日常生活中，菲利浦的妻子们会根据“值班表”为丈夫准备餐食及处理日常家务。每当菲利浦的“妻子”想和他同房时，对方就会发短信询问，菲利浦对记者说:“我的每个妻子都会在我的房间中住上一到两周，然后我会对她说，她应该返回自己的卧室生活了。”

据了解，摩洛哥也实行“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，尤其是拥有高学历的人群，基本坚持“一夫一妻”制。