Common
Knowledge of Chinese Culture
Divorce
In traditional China, there
were seven reasons for which a man might divorce his wife: barrenness, lasciviousness,
jealousy, talkativeness, thievery, disobedience towards her husband's parents, and
leprosy. Bareness was the first big reason for a man to divorce his wife or to have
concubines in old China. The purpose was to have a child, to be exact, a son to carry on
the family or the family name. However, in some situations, a man could not divorce his
wife even if the above seven reasons applied, for example, the wife had no parents
who could receive her back; the husband was in mourning for a parent; he adopted a son.
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