A wife can never divorce her husband, but he can divorce her for seven different reasons, some of which are related to concubinage. The seven reasons for divorce are: 1) loquacity, or talking too much. Thus we see throughout the novel that O-lan is naturally reticent and speaks out about something only on rare occasions; 2) An incurable disease. At the end of the novel, when O-lan is dying from a tumor, Wang Lung could divorce her, but the thought never enters his mind; 3) Theft. This does not refer to the type of theft that O-lan committed when she took the jewels from the rich man's house; instead, it means stealing from one's husband or his family; 4) Adultery. Whereas a man can sleep with any woman whom he owns, if a woman ever commits adultery, she is immediately cast out. If a man owns a concubine at the time, then the concubine is elevated to the position of the first wife; 5) Disobedience. When Wang Lung asks for the jewels, O-lan knows that she has to obey her husband because disobedience to him is reason enough for divorce; 6) Jealousy. When Wang Lung brings Lotus Flower into his house, O-lan virtually never complains about her. She does complain about the presence of Cuckoo, but she mentions Lotus Flower only in indirect reference, as when she tells Wang Lung that the eldest son goes too often "into the inner courts"; 7) Barrenness. This is by far the most important, the most tantamount, reason for divorce. In Chinese custom, sex is a means of propagating the family name because the family lives through the sons of the family. One of the most sacred, unwritten laws is that ancestors require male descendants. If one woman proves barren, then another woman must be found who can produce male children. If the wife comes from a wealthy family and brings with her many female servants, the wife herself, if barren, offers one of her servants to her husband.
The idea of concubinage dates back to at least the time of Confucius (551?-478? B.C.), who was the father of the religion of ancestor worship and who emphasized in his teachings the importance of male descendants. Consequently, if the wife did not bear male descendants, the man must look to other sources or else violate one of the concepts of Confucianism. Later Confucian scholars expressed the desirability of marrying a wife for her virtues and then taking a concubine for her beauty. Because of the practice of the family's arranging the marriages (Wang Lung's father arranges for Wang Lung's marriage) and because the Chinese man could not see his bride until the wedding day, the later possession of a concubine for her beauty alone was a common practice. If his wife happened to be beautiful, the man could congratulate himself, but if this were not the case, then he could turn elsewhere. Often, the bride's mother, if wealthy, would deliberately select attractive servants (or dowry maids) in the hope that her son-in-law would not have to go outside his own home in search of a sexual mate. Since the dowry maids were a part of the bride's dowry, then, he owned them in the same way as a wealthy man owned the "slaves" he bought. Thus, as with Pear Blossom, it was an accepted practice that the man could have any woman in his household without disgracing himself or his wife. Wang Lung, however, did feel some embarrassment or apprehension about taking Pear Blossom even though, technically, no one could condemn this act since she was his property.
