조선후기 이혼의 실상과 <대명률>의 적용

Examined in this article, is the way of dissolving a marriage that was practiced during the latter half period of the Joseon dynasty. The phenomena is examined in two terms: divorce and expulsion(出妻). The Joseon law codes, and not only the ones from the latter period, never clearly presented or sufficiently provided law codes regarding the ‘termination’ of marital relationships. Other than a clause inside Sok-Daejeon(續大典) from Joseon's latter period that dictated a person could not divorce a female under the reason that she was a granddaughter of a person who had been condemned for treason, there were no other regulations. And the Dae’Myeong-ryul(大明律:Grand Ming Cord) law code of the Chinese Ming dynasty was never consulted for that matter either. Some argued that Grand Ming Cord was the legitimate dynastic law code, yet others argued that the Joseon dynasty’s law code did not have any clause for marriage dissolutions. Their voice was respected more, so people tended to not make their marriage terminations official and an openly known fact. Then the Yangban figures started to resort to another ‘unofficial’ option, which was referred to as ‘kicking out the wife(expulsion),’ in order to terminate their marriage quietly and privately. And in the process, the so-called ‘Seven sins for which a husband could legitimately expel his own wife(七去之惡)’ seem to have been abused, because it was ultimately the husband’s discretion to weigh the matter and decide whether or not to ‘kick out’ his own wife. There seems to have been many cases of that sort, during the latter half period of the Joseon society. The ‘Seven sins’ were never a mere tool of inflicting moral pressure, but a very much alive and powerful punishment.