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Fran Lu

A Shanghai man has divorced his wife because she insisted that their son take her surname instead of his.
The case sparked a heated discussion on mainland social media about the Chinese tradition of inheriting fathers’ surnames.
The man, surnamed Shao, and his ex-wife surnamed Ji, have a daughter who took his surname in 2019, and a son who took hers in 2021, the Chinese news outlet Henan Television reported on February 10.
Shao kept on at Ji to let their son take his surname.
They eventually separated and decided to divorce in 2023. The two children have lived with Ji since the couple split.

Shao requested custody of their daughter and gave up that of their son, but Ji insisted on having both.
He took the matter to court and Ji won on the grounds that she had been taking care of the children for years.
Chinese courts decide on the custody of minors based on “best interests of the child”.
Custody is usually granted to the mother, but the capability of the parents to care and support older children is also taken into consideration.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, Shao appealed to higher court and was denied again.
He was ordered to pay child support to his ex-wife until the children reach the age of 18.
One online observer said of the case: “I support the court’s judgment. Such a stingy man, divorcing his wife over such a trivial matter.”
“Does it matter whose surname the children take? Nothing matters more than a harmonious relationship for couples,” said another.
“He was not the one who was pregnant for 10 months and delivered the baby. He should be thankful that one of them takes his surname,” a third person said.
The online comments reflect a trend among young people in China, especially women, who defy the old patriarchal tradition that children should inherit their father’s surname.

In recent years, many online voices have highlighted the sacrifices women make in childbirth, children’s upbringing and housework, which remained invisible for thousands of years.
In more financially developed areas in eastern China’s Yangtze River Delta, some families with a single daughter chose to not “marry into” men’s families.
Instead, they invented the “two-headed marriage”, or liang tou hun.
Women in a “two-headed marriage” do not accept a bride price, which they deem as tantamount to purchasing a wife, and make an agreement with the men to have two children, one taking the father’s surname and the other the mother’s.
+++


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Drawn-out legal battle turns spotlight on patriarchal tradition amid growing trend of assertive woman entering into so-called two-headed marriages


Drawn-out legal battle turns spotlight on patriarchal tradition amid growing trend of assertive woman entering into so-called two-headed marriages.


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China husband divorces wife over surname dispute, woman wins custody of both children

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Drawn-out legal battle turns spotlight on patriarchal tradition amid growing trend of assertive woman entering into so-called two-headed marriages

Drawn-out legal battle turns spotlight on patriarchal tradition amid growing trend of assertive woman entering into so-called two-headed marriages