Patterns of Divorce in China

One common explanation for the phenomenon of rising divorce rates in industrially advanced countries is that it is an inevitable consequence of rapid social and economic change. The pressures on social relationships exerted by such changes are seen as a side-effect of the modernisation process. China is a country which is currently undergoing change on a scale unprecedented since the early days of liberation. Values which previously appeared to be immutable are being challenged, modified or even abandoned. Change is not occurring randomly, however, as there are limits placed on its direction, scale and scope by the state and the Party, in an attempt to ensure that the modemisation process remains on an ideologically and socially acceptable track. Such a strategy is an inherently dynamic one, as fundamental economic change often requires concurrent and profound attitudinal and structural change. This may bring with it behaviour and tendencies seen by some as inimical either to prevailing values or to those values considered worthy of inculcation in the new scheme of things. Clearly, in some situations it has to be accepted that vital reform in one area may bring with it undesirable but inevitable side-effects that can be controlled but not completely eradicated. Individual behaviour and personal relationships have always been considered legitimate areas for intervention by the state in China, where high levels of social stability and harrnony are seen as vital for effective government. In the transition to socialism, state intervention is seen as necessary both to eliminate feudal and bourgeois values and to replace them with socialist values and ethics. As marriage in China is the traditional cultural norm, and anyone who does not marry is considered an oddity, rules and regulations concerning marriage and divorce are obviously of great import to the individual. This study examines current issues concerning the breakdown of marriages and tentatively relates them to the process of rapid change in train in contemporary China. The following brief review of the role of marriage and divorce sets the scene for an examination of the effect of the new Marriage Law passed in 1980 and the causes for the recent increase in divorce applications.