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WIFE AND CHILDREN OF AN OPIUM-SMOKER.

CHAPTER VIII.

DIVORCE.

THE law of divorce in China has, apparently, from time immemorial, afforded great facilities to men in all ranks and conditions of life for putting away their wives. On the other hand, as was the case amongst the ancient Jews, a wife cannot cite her husband, however culpable his conduct may be, before any of the civil tribunals with the view of obtaining a dissolution of marriage. The grounds upon which a husband can obtain a divorce from his wife are the following:-Incompatibility of temper, drunkenness, theft, desertion, disobedience, lewdness, undutifulness towards himself or towards his parents, a discovery of her unchastity on the first night of marriage, and unfaithfulness.

The facility which so comprehensive a list gives to Chinese husbands for putting away their wives, is not lessened by the very simple mode of procedure through which a divorce is obtained. The husband seeking a divorce, invites his father and other male relatives and kinsmen to meet in the ancestral hall of the clan or family, for the purpose of hearing and investigating the charge, or charges, which he is prepared to prove against his wife. To each one invited, a betel nut

1 Drunkenness probably includes opium-smoking. Thus, in 1871, a physician, named Lum Hok-hin, who resided in the Honam suburb of Canton, put away his wife upon discovering that she was an opium-smoker. She had only been married to him for a few weeks, when she was sent back by the disappointed husband to her native village.

wrapped up in green leaves is respectfully presented by the aggrieved husband. In some of the rural districts the husband convenes a meeting of this kind by beating a gong, and "crying" his invitation to his male relatives and kinsmen through the village. The proceedings in the ancestral hall begin with worship being rendered to the ancestral tablets. In the presence and in the hearing of his wife, the aggrieved husband then states his case, and supports it by all the evidence he can bring forward. When the merits of the case have been fully discussed by the relatives, they give a decision supposed to be founded on the evidence. If the charge be established, a bill of divorcement is immediately given by the petitioner to the respondent. This bill, which is not written in the dwelling-house of the petitioner, but outside, is usually signed by both the parties concerned. Each signature consists of an impression made in ink by the tip of the forefinger of the right hand. It ought to be added that a Chinese husband cannot put away his wife for any of the minor offences which make divorce possible, should he be in mourning for a parent at the time when the offence was committed.

But what, it may be asked, becomes of the wives who have been divorced? A first wife when divorced is, as a rule, permitted to return to the home of her parents, or, in the absence of parents, to the home of a near relative. Should she, however, be so unfortunate as to have neither father, nor mother, nor near relative, she is usually sold by the husband who has divorced her to a "go-between." In this case she may, if no worse fate befall her, become the wife of another man. A second, or third wife, when divorced, generally meets with a very sad fate. If sold to a go-between, and if she be at all good-looking, she is at once re-sold to the proprietress of a public brothel, who for a female of prepossessing appearance is always prepared to give a high price. In August, 1861, I met with a very sad illustration of the melancholy fate which in this way frequently befalls a divorced wife of inferior rank. A female of prepossessing appearance, and evidently in deep distress, was being forced by a procuress and her attendants along the principal streets of Canton. I learned

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