Last year, more than 3.5 million divorce applications were filed in China. Photo: IC

According to an article published in South Reviews magazine, more than 3.5 million couples were divorced last year. This is a 12.8 percent increase in the number of divorces in 2012. Of the 3.5 million divorce applications filed, over 20 percent led to court disputes over assets or issues regarding custody of children.

Besides the colossal personal toll these figures represent for the people involved, the dramatic increase in the number of divorces in China over the past decade has placed a heavy burden on the country's legal system.

The government has sought to alleviate this burden by simplifying and clarifying a number of laws related to divorce proceedings. But could it be that in making the legal proceedings for divorce simpler, such laws have in fact, encouraged divorce rates to rise?

Why are there more divorces in China today than there have ever been in the People's Republic's 65-year history?

Case study: a woman scorned

In recent days, an especially vehement case of a woman scorned has captured the attention of the media. Zhou Yuan (pseudonym), who is currently going through bitter divorce proceedings, has for weeks been airing her dirty laundry on social media platform Sina Weibo.  

Included are written descriptions and video files of her husband's extramarital affairs, as well as of arguments between her and her husband's family.

"I wanted to disclose the truth, so my friends would know exactly who had behaved badly in our marriage," said Zhou in an interview with South Reviews magazine.

"I discovered that he was cheating on me around the time I got pregnant, but he showed absolutely no compassion, and didn't think that he had done anything wrong," Zhou added. "He blamed me for the problems in our marriage, and moved out to live with his mistress."

Zhou decided to collect evidence of her husband's infidelities, by tracking his movements and even spying on him in hotels.

From the time that Zhou filed the papers for divorce, she and her husband had been married for two years. As with many modern couples, a prenuptial agreement was put in place before they were married, which stated that both parties would retain all assets they owned prior to the marriage, should they divorce.

But for reasons that not clearly specified in the South Reviews article, she and her husband do not agree on the way their assets should be split, which is why they find themselves in court.

Zhou attributes the breakdown of their marriage to the overbearing influence of her mother-in-law, with her husband's affairs as the final straw.

"I want to reclaim all the assets that belong to me, and I will raise my son on my own," said Zhou.

Divorce battles are frequently bitter affairs, with the question of assets and property the key question. Photo: IC

A question of property

Song Jian, a divorce lawyer with 12 years of experience, was quoted in the report as saying that women are more reluctant to file for divorce because they are afraid that they will lose any mutual assets owned by the couple.

Song added that compared to a decade ago, couples entangled in divorce proceedings were much more conscientious about protecting their own assets, and much more determined to prevent the other party from taking what they feel belongs to them.  

In first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the cost of a jointly owned apartment can amount to millions of yuan.

Disputes over custody of children tended to be far rarer, said Song.

"In most of divorce cases, both parties agree that the child or children should be raised by whoever has greater economically resources," she said.  

Legal reform

A Legal Mirror report noted a correlation between the sudden hike in divorce rates and the reforms to the Marriage Law in 2003. The reform did away with the need to present a certificate from the neighborhood committee or work unit saying that a marriage was irreparably damaged, in order for divorce to be granted.

The report argued that the requirement for such a certificate acted as a social deterrent for many couples, as it would involve having to reveal details from one's personal life to neighbors or colleagues.

"Divorce was considered as something that was ugly and shameful," said Li Yinhe, a sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in a South Reviews article.

Li gave the example of a woman who struggled to convince her neighbors to sign off on a certificate as typical.

"Everyone [in the neighborhood committee] was angry at her. They couldn't understand why she would want to divorce her husband, who was from a well-off family," said Li.

In 2011, a further clarification was made by the Supreme People's Court regarding the division of housing and property upon divorce.

Under the revised interpretation, if a house or property was purchased by one party's parents, it belongs only to that party. If a house or property is purchased before marriage, it also belongs exclusively to the person who paid for it.

Only in those cases where a house or property is jointly paid for is it considered joint property.

A Guangzhou Daily report noted that the clarification was made to dissuade cynical marriages, in which one person marries another only in the hopes of sharing in their property.

Changing views on marriage

Tong Xin, a sociology professor at Peking University, said in a South Reviews report that the function of marriage in China has changed in the past decade.

"There are two traditional Chinese sayings: 'We would rather demolish 10 temples than advise a couple to divorce,' and 'A good woman won't marry twice,'" said Tong. "The idea that the institution of marriage should be completely sacred has been challenged by a competing view, which is that divorce allows people to escape a situation in which they are terribly unhappy."

According to Tong, the traditional conception of marriage for Chinese is to rear children in order to preserve the continuity of the family line.

However, because attitudes towards having children have changed in recent years, marriage has become a more fragile institution, said Tong.

Marriages these days, she said, are held together more by emotional bonds than they are in bearing or raising a child.

People these days place a far higher value on the emotional bond in a relationship, said Tong, but because society is shifting so rapidly, emotions too are easily changed - leading to instabilities in marriages.

According to a study conducted by Tsinghua University and Insight China magazine, the factors Chinese people consider most important to a successful marriage these days are, in descending order: the emotional bond between the couple, the ability to communicate and understand each other, loyalty, children, income, sex, and one's relationship with their partner's family.

A happier ending?

"Marriage is like our body. Sometimes, we get ill. If a marriage gets ill, we need to see the doctor as well," said Wang Wenjuan, the director of the Marriage and Family Consultants Association in Hefei, Anhui Province, in a report published by the Xinhua News Agency.

Figures from the association show divorce rates increased by 55.8 percent from 2012 to 2013 in Hefei. Of this number, the biggest increase was in couples who had been married for three years or less.

"Extramarital affairs and lack of communication are among the major reasons for couples to divorce," said Wang. "Arguments between young couples can be triggered by things as trivial as whose turn it is to do the housework, or whose parents to visit over Spring Festival."

Part of the association's work, said Wang, was to try to help people to address issues in their marriages before it was too late.

"We help people to communicate better and to understand their responsibilities when it comes to family and marriage. So when difficulties arise, we hope they will not act rashly," said Wang.