There are some low castes in the Bombay Presidency, in Assam and elsewhere, among whom the practice of irregular divorce and remarriage of the parties prevails. The causes for divorce are mutual consent of the parties and ill-treatment. These divorces, although permitted by custom, are not recognized by the courts. 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. MARRIAGE.--A Chinese is not permitted to have more than one wife. He may, however, in addition, keep concubines, or "secondary wives." Both wives and concubines have a legal status. The wife is considered to be a relative of all her husband's family, but a concubine is not so considered. It is an offence for a man to degrade his wife to the level of a concubine, or to elevate a concubine to the level of his wife. The consent of the parties, which is the first requisite of a valid marriage in Christendom, is legally of no consequence in China. It is the consent of the parents of the respective parties which is material and necessary. The consent of the father of the woman is sufficient, and if he is dead then the mother may give the necessary consent.