Chilgeojiak
| Korean spelling | |
|---|---|
| Korean alphabet : | 칠거지악 |
| Hanja : | 七 去 之 惡 |
| Revised Romanization : | Chilgeojiak |
| McCune-Reischauer : | Chilgŏjiak |
Chilgeojiak [cʰilgəʝiak] literally means 'seven wickednesses to repudiate '. The person to be violated is the wife and therefore the translation 'Seven Conditions of Divorce' is also used. Chilgeojiak is a kind of moral code from the past for the wife in Korea, but also in China, from where this custom came to Korea. Joseon Dynasty society was deeply influenced by the moral teachings of Confucianism . The upper class Yangban in particular adhered to this morality, which dictates both commands and prohibitions for everyone. Chilgeojiak were prohibitions that the male Yangban society sanctioned and that every wife had to observe. The 'seven sins to cast off' are:
- Disobedience to in-laws
- Childless
- Unfaithful
- Jealous
- Terminally ill
- Chatty
- Thieving
In three specific cases, repudiation of the wife was prohibited in order to protect the woman from a too harsh fate:
- if the husband completed his parents' funeral service together with his wife more than three years ago.
- in case the husband's household was poor before marriage but has grown rich after marriage.
- if the wife is unable to stay after the offense.
If one reads them against the backdrop of feudal and patriarchal society, it is clear that they have not been arbitrarily posed. They could be construed as human vices in general. On the other hand, if you look at them from today's socio-political point of view, apart from the last point, they are misogynist and sometimes brutal in the case of childless or seriously ill women. These reasons for repudiation have served many husbands as an excuse to get rid of their unpopular wife and then to lead a new one home.
Because the husband could not officially divorce his wife, let alone the wife of her husband. However, since these measures were not considered binding - they were not in the code - the problem was largely a family matter. The fate of the woman concerned depended on the decision her husband and his family made. When that happened, the problem was settled by the husband and wife's family, with the wife's family accepting the other's decision and bringing their daughter back.
These measures no longer exist in Korea today. But today's Korean society is not entirely free from this supposed 'register of sins'. Unruly women are not welcomed, nor are jealous and talkative women.
Trivia
In 1974 a South Korean movie called Chilgeojiak was released . The international title of the drama was Seven Reasons for Divorce .
Web links
- 칠거지악 in the Encyclopædia Britannica (Korean)
Individual evidence
- ^ Soon-Sun Cho (2005): Church and women's education in Korea: using the example of the congregation "Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help" (SOLPH) . Lit Verlag Münster. Page 10f.
- ↑ Chilgeojiak in the Internet Movie Database (English). Retrieved November 5, 2013.