位於中國與印度交界的喜馬拉雅山,不丹是世界上最遺世獨立的國家。不丹的日常生活深受傳統佛教思想主導,偏遠的山區到處是星羅棋布的佛教寺院。事實上,由於中國現今控制著西藏,不丹被視為是全世界藏傳佛教得以發揚光大的最後淨土。不過,在這個急速現代化的世界,不丹要如何保留傳統根脈呢?
A closer look 說古論今
The government has worked hard to keep foreign influences from changing its traditional Buddhist culture. It has made tourism very expensive, and the only way for most people to see the country is by joining special tourist programs. There is only one newspaper in the whole country, and the Internet only became available in 2000. Television broadcasting began in 1999, making Bhutan the last country in the world to introduce television.
Because of these efforts, Bhutanese society hasn't lost much of its traditional Buddhist culture. There is a law that all Bhutanese citizens have to wear traditional Buddhist robes and dresses, with people of different classes wearing different kinds of robes. More than 90 percent of the people are subsistence farmers, and most of the rest are craftsmen. Bhutan is also one of the least populated countries in the world, with just 45 people per km2. Its main trading partner is India, although its isolation and lack of any railway system make trade difficult. Bhutan's border with China, its neighbor to the north, is closed.
PHOTO: AP
However, protecting its culture has come at a cost. Bhutan was criticized by human rights groups in the 1980s for a series of laws targeting ethnic Nepalese living in the country, who were mostly Hindu. Around 100,000 of these people became refugees in Nepal as a result of those laws.
Bhutan is currently a monarchy, but the king surprised everyone last year when he announced that he would begin to turn over his powers to a new democratic government in 2008. (Taipei Times)
不丹政府一向致力於不讓外來影響改變其傳統佛教文化。政府讓觀光業相當昂貴,多數人得以一窺這個國家的唯一方法就是參加特別的觀光客計畫。不丹全國上下只有一家報紙,二○○○年才開始設置網路。電視台播送始於一九九九年,讓不丹成為全世界最後一個引進電視的國家。
由於這些努力,不丹並未喪失太多當地傳統的佛教文化。法律規定所有不丹人民必須穿著傳統佛教衣袍,不同階級的人衣袍各不相同。超過九成的人民是日子僅能餬口的農民,其餘的大多為工匠。不丹也是全世界人口最少的國家之一,每平方公里只有四十五人居住。雖然不丹遺世獨立、又因缺乏鐵路系統而貿易困難,但最主要的貿易夥伴為印度。不丹與北鄰中國的邊界已封閉。
不過,保護當地文化也讓不丹付出了相當代價。不丹在一九八○年代因為一連串針對當地尼泊爾人的種族法案,飽受人權團體批評;這些尼泊爾人大多為印度教徒。由於這些法案,大約有十萬名不丹的尼泊爾人逃到尼泊爾成為難民。
不丹為君主統治,不過去年國王卻令人跌破眼鏡地宣佈,他將於二○○八年移交政權,讓不丹轉型成民主政體。台北時報/翻譯:賴美君)
Who Knew? 你知道嗎?
Most countries around the world measure their success by their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the total monetary value of all things produced in the country. But in 1972, Bhutan's king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, announced that Bhutan was not concerned with its GDP, but with its Gross Domestic Happines, a new term that he invented. According to Wangchuck,the goal for the economy is not just to produce as much as possible, but to produce at a level that is appropriate for Bhutan. The GDH does not measure how many things people own, but how happy they are. Of course, there isn't really a way to measure happiness in the same way that GDP is measured, but the GDH shows that money is not the source of happiness, and that it should be balanced with other considerations, such as maintaining cultural values and protecting the environment.
世界上多數國家都是以代表國內生產品總值的「國內生產毛額」(GDP)來衡量國家昌盛與否。不過在一九七二年,不丹的汪曲克國王宣佈,不丹並不在乎國內生產毛額,而是關切「國內幸福總值」(GDH);這是他自創的術語。汪曲克國王表示,經濟的目標不只是儘可能地生產,也要生產到適合不丹的程度。國內幸福總值並非是以人們擁有多少東西來衡量,而是要衡量人們有多幸福。當然,並沒有如國內生產毛額般真正用來衡量幸福的方式,不過國內幸福總值顯示了金錢並非是快樂的源頭,應該與其他考量取得平衡,像是維護文化資產與保護環境等。
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