고려시대 이혼의 사유와 성립 조건

Goryeo could not accept the marriage law of China because of its social background. There were consensual divorce, one-sided divorce, and forced divorce in the Tang-Song Dynasty. These were disadvantages for women, so the men were punished if they gave up their wives despite not being a one-sided divorce or a forced divorce. Goryeo had difficulty in accepting the laws of the Tang and Song dynasties because there was a marriage custom in which the son-in-law abandoned his wife. Goryeo had no law on consensual divorce, one-sided divorce, and forced divorce, and they actually operated differently from Chinese law. Goryeo has a marriage custom in which the son-in-law lives at his wife’s house. So, they often abandoned their wives and sometimes the woman’s house abandoned their son-in-law who did not meet their needs. The son-in-law abandoned his wife if the political, economic, and social demands were not met. And they were sometimes ashamed by Confucian reasons for such divorce. A man often abandoned his wife, but he was not able to abandon the woman at will. In order to divorce, parents had to have consent and justifiable reasons. If this was not met, it was condemned or sanctioned by the State. However, the divorce did not have to be allowed by the state, but was followed by divorce practices recognized in the context of the marriage where the son-in-law lives in the woman’s home.