As the Dalai Lama built a nation in exile after fleeing Chinese persecution in the 1950s, the young leader pinned its survival on an idea that had long fascinated him: democracy.

20世纪50年代，当达赖喇嘛在逃离中国的迫害后开始建立流亡政府时，这位年轻的领袖将其成败寄托在一个长期令他着迷的理念上：民主。

It was part natural inclination, part strategy.

这既是天性使然，也是一种战略考量。

On visits to neighboring India, he had been charmed by its nascent republic’s culture of open debate. He also knew that too much power had been vested in one man as both the spiritual and political leader of Tibet.

在访问邻国印度时，他被这个新兴共和国的公开辩论文化所吸引。同时他也意识到，将过多的权力集中在一个人身上、令他同时成为西藏的精神和政治领袖是不妥的。

So, over the decades, he gradually devolved his own power to an elected Parliament based in the Indian Himalayas, and then retired his political role completely in 2011. Creating a robust structure not dependent on a single leader, he believed, according to senior monks and officials close to him, would help exiled Tibetans withstand Beijing’s efforts to crush their movement for freedom and autonomy.

因此，几十年来，他逐步将自己的权力下放给位于印度喜马拉雅山区的民选议会，并于2011年彻底退出政治角色。据身边的高级僧侣和官员说，他相信，建立一个不依赖于单一领袖的稳固体制将有助于流亡藏人在争取自由与自治的努力中抵御北京的打压。

周三，在达兰萨拉的本地茶摊前消磨时光。

“The rule by kings and religious figures is outdated,” the Dalai Lama, who celebrates his 90th birthday on Sunday, said the year he gave up his political role. “We have to follow the trend of the free world, which is that of democracy.”

“国王和宗教人物的统治已经过时了，”达赖喇嘛在他放弃政治角色的那一年说道——这位在上周日迎来了90岁生日的精神领袖表示，“我们必须跟随自由世界的潮流，那就是民主。”

This past week, the Dalai Lama seemed to rule out the unorthodox ideas he had suggested over the years to prevent the Chinese government from meddling in the process of finding a successor in the vacuum after his death. He reaffirmed his commitment to traditional practices, while declaring that his office had sole authority over them.

在刚刚过去的一周，达赖喇嘛似乎否定了他多年来提出的一些非常规想法，这些想法原本是为了防止中国政府在他去世后干预寻找继任者的过程。他重申将遵循传统做法，同时明确表示，只有他的办公室对这一过程拥有唯一权威。

That all but guarantees a dispute, analysts say, with the prospect of two Dalai Lamas — one promoted by Beijing and the other recognized by the Dalai Lama’s office in exile.

分析人士表示，这几乎注定将引发一场争议——很可能会出现两个达赖喇嘛：一个由北京方面推举，另一个则由达赖喇嘛流亡办公室所承认。

The institutionalized democracy entrenched by the Dalai Lama was built for this moment.

达赖喇嘛所建立并巩固的制度化民主正是为这一时刻而准备的。

Since 2011, Tibetan exiles — who number around 140,000, half of them in India — have chosen a president through a direct vote held across refugee settlements in India and in small diaspora pockets around the world.

自2011年以来，约有14万名藏人流亡者（其中一半居住在印度）参加印度各地难民定居点以及全球各地的小型侨居社区举行的直接投票，选举出他们的司政。

The president, known as the sikyong, leads a shoestring administration that oversees schools, clinics, monasteries and even agricultural cooperatives and old-age homes.

司政领导着一个资源紧张的行政机构，负责管理学校、诊所、寺院，甚至包括农业合作社和养老院。

2024年，位于印度拜拉库比的措杰康萨医院。2024年，学生在拜拉库比一所小学学习弹奏藏族琵琶。

This democracy, constructed over more than half a century, may be the most vivid legacy of the Dalai Lama’s modernizing efforts to preserve Tibetan traditions abroad while resisting Chinese influence.

在达赖喇嘛为在海外保存藏人传统、抵御中国影响而进行的现代化努力中，这个历经半个多世纪构建起来的民主制度或许是最显著的遗产。

“The political system of governance, the struggle, the same democratic system will continue even in the interregnum,” Penpa Tsering, the president of the Tibetan government in exile, said this past week, referring to the period after a Dalai Lama dies and his reincarnation is found and groomed for the role.

“即使在达赖喇嘛圆寂与其转世灵童被发现并培养期间的过渡时期，政治治理体制、抗争以及同样的民主制度也将继续存在，”藏人行政中央司政边巴次仁本周表示。

While the spiritual leader has tried to forge a resilient administration, China will have levers to pull with India and the United States, two of the strongest supporters of the Dalai Lama’s seven-decade cause, to try to dry out their support.

虽然这位精神领袖努力打造一个有韧性的行政机构，但中国可能会利用对印度和美国的影响力——这两个国家都是达赖喇嘛七十多年事业最坚定的支持者——试图削弱他们的支持。

The exile government’s vulnerability became clear this year when the Trump administration froze aid as part of global cuts. About a quarter of the annual $40 million budget for the government in exile comes from the United States.

今年，随着特朗普政府进行全球项目裁减，相关援助被冻结，流亡政府的脆弱性变得明显。流亡政府每年约4000万美元的预算中大约四分之一来自美国。

2024年，藏人流亡政府司政彭巴次仁在达兰萨拉的办公室。周六，达赖喇嘛抵达达兰萨拉的主要藏传佛教寺庙，人们在那里为他的长寿祈福。

Mr. Tsering said the exile administration had recently managed to persuade the U.S. government to lift the freeze on a large share of the money.

边巴次仁表示，流亡政府最近成功说服美国政府解冻了大部分资金。

“It does affect the momentum of the work we have set in — we lost six months,” he said.

“这确实影响了我们既定工作的推进——我们失去了六个月的时间，”他说。

India is also keeping its options open, dealing with the issue delicately in recent years so as not to deepen trouble with China.

印度也给自己留了余地，近年来在这一问题上处理得相当谨慎，以避免与中国的关系进一步恶化。

New Delhi has formally recognized Tibet as part of Chinese territory. After the Dalai Lama’s announcement about his reincarnation, an Indian minister announced support for that position.

新德里正式承认西藏是中国的一部分。但在达赖喇嘛就其转世问题发表声明后，一位印度部长表示支持这一立场。

But he later clarified his statement as something he had expressed as a fellow Buddhist, and not in his capacity as a representative of the Indian government. India’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying it wasn’t taking a position on the matter.

这位部长随后澄清说，他是在以一名佛教徒而不是印度政府代表的身份表态。印度外交部也发表声明称，印度在此问题上并未持立场。

During visits to two of the largest Tibetan settlements in India — in Dharamsala, where the government in exile is based, and in Bylakuppe, in southern India — the anxiety over a transition after the Dalai Lama was evident.

在走访印度两个最大的藏人定居点——达兰萨拉（流亡政府所在地）和南部的拜拉库比时，人们对达赖喇嘛圆寂后过渡时期的焦虑情绪显而易见。

Tenzin Jigdal, a member of the Tibetan Parliament in exile, said he had been calling for a careful analysis of possible vulnerabilities.

流亡藏人议会议员丹增晋达表示，他一直呼吁对可能存在的脆弱环节进行深入分析。

“How prepared are we for the coming years, in post-Dalai Lama scenario?” he said on the sidelines of a parliamentary session in Dharamsala in September. “If you see this inevitability in advance, the least you can do is you can prepare in advance.”

“在达赖喇嘛去世的情况下，我们对未来几年准备得有多充分？”他在9月达兰萨拉一次议会会议间隙说道，“如果你能提前预见这一不可避免的局面，至少你可以提前做好准备。”

The Parliament, with an array of groupings and factions, has come a long way since it held its first sessions under a tree months after the Dalai Lama became a refugee.

当年，达赖喇嘛开始流亡几个月后，议会曾在一棵树下举行首次会议，如今这个拥有众多派别和团体的议会已经走过了漫长的历程。

2024年，在达兰萨拉出席年度会议的流亡藏人议员。去年议会会议第一天，流亡藏人议会的议员。

Its 45 members meet twice a year — once in the spring to approve a budget and once in the fall to hear the government’s performance report. Except for nearly a dozen standing committee leaders who stay in Dharamsala, most of the members have other jobs during the year, and some come from as far as Europe and North America.

议会由45名成员组成，每年召开两次会议——春季审议预算，秋季听取政府工作报告。除近十几位常务委员会负责人留驻达兰萨拉外，大多数议员在一年中的其他时间都有各自的工作，有些成员甚至来自欧洲和北美。

During the session in September, as the lawmakers filed into the small hall, they bowed to a large portrait of the Dalai Lama before taking their seats for the day’s proceedings. He also loomed large over the debate.

9月的会议期间，当议员们陆续走进这个小礼堂时，会先向一幅达赖喇嘛的大幅画像鞠躬，然后才入座参加当天的议程。达赖的身影也在整个辩论中占据着重要地位。

Mr. Tsering, the president, was presenting the report on the performance of his government’s cultural and religious activities. He read for nearly half an hour, page after page, as many members tried to stay alert with the help of the tea in front of them.

边巴次仁正在汇报政府在文化和宗教活动方面的工作绩效。他连续念了将近半个小时，一页接一页，许多议员靠着面前的茶水努力保持清醒。

Outside, under a tent erected on a basketball court, a couple of hundred refugees seated in red plastic chairs closely followed the proceedings. They cheered and clapped when they were in agreement with a speaker.

在外面一顶搭在篮球场上的帐篷下，几百名难民坐在红色塑料椅上，密切关注着会议进程。他们认同某位发言者的观点时会欢呼并鼓掌。

流亡议会议长堪布索南登贝在去年秋天的会议上发言。观看9月议会会议第一天的现场直播。

During a question-and-answer session, one opposition lawmaker tried to score a jab. The Dalai Lama had just undergone knee replacement surgery in New York. Why had the president disturbed his rest by visiting him, she asked.

在问答环节，一位反对派议员试图抛出一个尖锐的问题。她问道，达赖喇嘛刚刚在纽约接受了膝盖置换手术，为什么司政要打扰他休息，亲自去探望他？

The crowd under the tent booed and jeered. It was a low blow.

帐篷下的群众发出嘘声和嘲笑声。这是一次卑劣的攻击。

Mr. Tsering and other officials said that while the administration was focused on the delivery of services, its overarching mission remained the preservation of Tibetan culture, language and traditions that are being wiped out in their homeland by the Chinese Communist Party.

边巴次仁和其他官员表示，虽然政府专注于提供各项服务，但其总体使命依然是保护藏族文化、语言和传统。在他们的故土，这些正被中国共产党逐步消灭。

That work has become harder as Tibetan refugees, now in their third generation, have spread out over about two dozen countries. Connections to the homeland are waning. And the Dalai Lama, their unifying symbol, has reduced his travels and engagements as he has aged.

随着藏人难民进入第三代，分散在大约二十多个国家，这项工作变得更加艰难。与故土的联系日益减弱，而作为他们团结象征的达赖喇嘛随着年事渐高，也减少了旅行和公开活动。

“In India, the Tibetan community is large, so we don’t face any problem in preserving culture,” said Jigme Namgyal, the education secretary in the government in exile. “But in the West, Tibetans are scattered, so it’s a bit challenging. But what we do is in all the Tibetan communities in the West, we have weekend schools.”

“在印度，藏人社区规模庞大，因此我们在保护文化方面没有遇到什么问题，”流亡政府教育秘书吉美南杰说道。“但在西方，藏人分散，因此面临一些挑战。不过，我们在西方所有藏人社区都开设了周末学校。”

The challenges of migration and demographic change were most visible in the Tibetan settlements in Bylakuppe, in the south Indian state of Karnataka.

迁徙和人口结构变化带来的挑战在印度南部卡纳塔克邦的拜拉库比藏人定居点表现得尤为明显。

More than 5,000 residents live in the settlements, as well as thousands of monks who flow through the monasteries. The exile government has two senior settlement officers who oversee the delivery of services with the help of a staff of nearly 200. The refugees run shops and restaurants, and often hire local labor.

定居点中居住着超过5000名居民，以及数千名在寺院中修行的僧侣。流亡政府派驻了两位高级定居官，带领近200名工作人员负责各项服务的落实。难民们经营商店和餐馆，并常常雇用当地劳工。

“Our death rate is higher than our birthrate. People are also migrating out of India,” said Sonam Yougyai, 55, a hospital administrator. “You go inside the house, and you only find old people.”

“我们的死亡率高于出生率。人们还在不断迁出印度，”55岁的医院管理人员索朗·悠杰说。“你走进一户人家，看到的只有老人。”

达兰萨拉的藏人国家烈士纪念碑。2024年，印度拜拉库比的一所藏族学校。

At the Sambhota Tibetan Primary School, classes were sparsely attended. The school has 49 students from grades 1 to 5. They are taught the Tibetan language, English, environmental sciences, math and arts.

在桑布扎藏族小学，课堂里人很少。该校从一年级到五年级共有49名学生。学生们学习藏语、英语、环境科学、数学和艺术。

Sherab Wangmo, 34, the school’s head teacher, said that in addition to teaching the students language and culture, they are shown videos to remind them of how they became refugees.

学校校长、34岁的谢拉布·旺姆表示，除了教授学生语言和文化外，学校还会播放一些视频，以提醒他们，他们自己是如何成为难民的。

She, like a majority of the diaspora population, was born outside Tibet and has never seen her homeland.

和大多数流亡藏人一样，她出生在西藏以外，从未见过自己的故乡。

“Through dance and songs, we teach them about the Tibetan rivers,” she said. “We also teach them through songs and dances that good days will come one day and we will go back to our homeland.”

“我们通过舞蹈和歌曲教孩子们认识西藏的河流，”她说。“我们也通过歌舞教他们，相信美好的日子终将到来，我们有一天会回到故乡。”

上周，在达兰萨拉表演藏族舞蹈“白星期舞”。