白象

此条目页介紹的是词语的典故。
乌干达在1892年内战爆发后成为不列颠东非公司的“白象”。

在现代的用法中，白象指那些消耗龐大資源卻无用或无价值的物体、计划、商业风险或公共设施等 [1]。一些造價昂貴但沒有實際效用，或成本過高但回報少的工程項目都可能被形容為「白象工程」[2]。

背景

1855年阿玛拉普拉宫殿的白象。

此词源于缅甸、泰国、老挝和柬埔寨这些东南亚君主所供养的神圣白象[3]。拥有白象，曾被视为（且在泰国和缅甸现在依旧如此）君主统治公平正义与其权力的象征，也是王国和平与繁荣的象征。君主常常在他们正式的头衔中显示他们拥有白象，如贡榜王朝的第三位君主辛标信自号“白象王”[4]。

白象与印度教宇宙论有关联：因陀罗的坐骑艾拉瓦塔是一头白象。白象也与佛教的大千世界有着错综复杂的联系：帝释天的坐骑是一只名为艾拉瓦塔的三头白象[4]。真正的白化大象在自然界中，通常是红褐色或粉红色[5]。

这些说法源自佛陀诞生和白象的故事。相传在佛陀出生前，他的母亲梦见白象赠送代表智慧和纯洁的莲花给她[6]。因为白象被认为是神圣的，并且法律保护白象免受劳作，因而收到君主赠与的白象是福亦是祸。福是因为动物是神圣的而且是君主恩惠的象征；祸则是因为接受者不仅要花费一笔高昂的饲养费，而且还不能转赠他人或将之投入实际的使用中。

由泰国政府颁发的白象勋章包含八个等级。尼泊尔也有白象。

在西方，“白象”一词指花费昂贵但又没有达到预期目的物品。这一词语因費尼爾司·泰勒·巴納姆的经历而为人所知。巴納姆曾购入一只名为Toung Taloung的“神圣缅甸白象”。在付出巨大的努力和高昂的花费后，巴納姆终于获得了来自暹罗国王的动物，却发现他的“白象”的颜色实际上是有一些粉色斑点的脏灰色[7]。

“白象”和“白象礼物”这些词语在十九世纪中叶开始广泛使用[8]。在二十世纪初期，这个用法通常以“白象交换”和“白象销售”的形式出现[9]。许多教会集市进行“白象销售”，在那里捐赠者可以将自己不需要的小古董出售以获取利润，因为一个人的垃圾是另一个人的宝贝。许多组织和教会集市今天仍在使用这个词。一般来说，“白象”通常指一个毫无用处、但可能昂贵而又古怪的物品。

另见

维基共享资源上的相关多媒体资源：白象

参考资料

  1. ^ Home : Oxford English Dictionary. oxforddictionaries.com. [25 April 2013]. （原始内容存档于2016-05-02）. 
  2. ^ 周顯. 甚麼是大白象工程？. am730. 2018-01-12 [2018-07-02]. （原始内容存档于2019-06-10） （中文（香港））. 
  3. ^ "Royal Elephant Stable" （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）.
  4. ^ 4.0 4.1 Leider, Jacques P. A Kingship by Merit and Cosmic Investiture. Journal of Burma Studies. December 2011, 15 (2). 
  5. ^ Morelle, Rebecca. Science & Environment | Pink elephant is caught on camera. BBC News. 20 March 2009 [14 March 2013]. （原始内容存档于2017-08-14）. 
  6. ^ The Birth of Buddha | The New Kadampa Tradition (ºla). Kadampa.org. [14 April 2011]. （原始内容存档于2011年3月26日）. 
  7. ^ Harding, Les. Elephant Story: Jumbo and P.T. Barnum Under the Big Top. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. 1999: 110 [2015-07-16]. ISBN 0786406321. （原始内容存档于2017-02-01）. 
  8. ^ Brown, Peter Jensen. Two-and-a-half Idioms - the History and Etymology of "White Elephants". Early Sports 'n' Pop-Culture History Blog. [25 June 2014]. （原始内容存档于2021-03-01）. 
  9. ^ Brown, Peter Jensen. Two-and-a-Half More Idioms - "White Elephants" and Yankee Swaps. Early Sports 'n' Pop-Culture History Blog. [3 July 2014]. （原始内容存档于2020-11-08）. 

拓展阅读

  • Jeffrey A. McNeely; Paul Spencer Sochaczewski. Soul of the Tiger: Searching for Nature’s Answers in Southeast Asia. 1995.  Contains a chapter on the white elephant in Southeast Asia.
  • Paul Spencer Sochaczewski. The Sultan and the Mermaid Queen. 2009.  Contains a long chapter on how Burmese generals tried to use the white elephant to consolidate power, also looks at the cosmological origins of the animal.

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