Letter of divorce - rienjo

In the Edo period, when commoners divorced, this was a document given by a husband to his wife or her parents. Since the right to divorce belonged to the husband, it was only the husband who wrote the divorce letter. It was also called a "dismissal letter" or "leave letter," but in "Kujikata Osadamedegaki," it is called a "divorce letter." It was also called a "mikurarihan" because it was customary to write it in three lines. As Hozumi Shigeto stated, the text consisted of a divorce letter and a letter granting permission to remarry. The divorce was established when the husband issued the divorce letter to his wife or her parents, but in practice, divorces did not seem to have become so easy, as relatives or matchmakers would temporarily keep the divorce letter. According to the provisions of the "Kujikata Osadamegaki," a woman who married another man without obtaining a divorce certificate was to have her head shaved and be returned to her parents, and anyone who took a second wife without sending a divorce certificate was to be punished by banishment from her home.

[Ryosuke Ishii]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代において、庶民が離婚する際、夫から妻またはその父兄に渡す書付。離婚の権利は夫にあったので、離縁状を書くのは夫に限られた。去(さり)状、暇(いとま)状などともよばれたが、『公事方御定書(くじかたおさだめがき)』では離別状と称している。三行半に書く俗習があったので、三下(みくだ)り半(はん)ともよばれた。文言は、穂積重遠(ほづみしげとお)の述べたように、離婚文言と再婚許可文言よりなっていた。夫が妻またはその父兄に離縁状を交付すれば離婚は成立するわけであるが、実際上は、親類や媒酌人などが離縁状を一時預かることが行われ、それほど簡単に離婚になったわけではないようである。『公事方御定書』の規定によると、離別状をとらないで他へ嫁した女は髪を剃(そ)って親元へ返され、また、離別状を遣わさないで後妻を呼んだ者は所払(ところばらい)の刑に処せられた。

［石井良助］

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