Chinanews, Lanzhou, October 23 – A “divorce contract” was found in Dunhuang recently, and it might be the earliest of its kind in China ever. It is estimated that the contract was made in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), which was considered to be the most prosperous and tolerant period in ancient China. However, the contract is yet confirmed by archeologists.

 

The contract was made by a man, saying to his wife that she could leave him and find her true love, instead of the two of them suffering from a loveless marriage.

 

It is believed that women in ancient China had no right to divorce and it is a great shame on her parents’ family if she was driven out by her husband. However, the contract found in Dunhuang shows that in some period of ancient China, women at least would not be blamed for being divorced.

 

By the way, it was common for women to remarry in the Tang Dynasty. In Qiuhu, a novel written at that time, after Qiuhu, the hero, had been missing for years, his mother asked his wife to find another man and not to wait for him in vain.