Restitution of Conjugal Rights.—A Hindu husband or wife can maintain a lawsuit to obtain a judicial separation against a deserting spouse for restitution of conjugal rights, but a Hindu convert to Christianity cannot obtain such a decree if his wife remains a Hindu.
CHAPTER XXXIV
The Chinese Empire.
A treatise on the marriage and divorce laws of the world would be incomplete without a chapter dealing with the law of the most compact nationality in history.
Chinese law is the growth of many centuries and is based on immemorial custom, but with all its antiquity and wealth of precedent, it has not yet passed the system of exacting testimony from witnesses by physical torture.
The first evidence of civil law to be found in Chinese history or tradition is the recognition and regulation of the status of marriage. Its fundamental principle is parental authority.
Though in a sense systematic, the laws of China are not as yet in a concentrated or scientific form. Under the present dynasty the collection of laws which is applied by the courts is called Ta Ch’ing Lii Li.
Two things are to be said in favour of the laws of China—the first being that every Chinese is within the law, and that the person is considered of more importance than property.