Tian Zhi's Unauthorized Divorce and Feigned Illness to Evade Corvée Case (Proposed Judgment)

During the Tang Dynasty, Tian Zhi unilaterally divorced his wife without seeking his parents' consent. Concurrently, he feigned illness to evade the imperial corvée labor service. His parents, angered by his actions, reported him to the local authorities. The court examined the case, finding that Tian Zhi had violated Confucian family ethics by disregarding parental authority in marital matters, and had breached the Tang Code by deliberately evading state labor duties. The case highlighted the tension between individual autonomy and the strict patriarchal and state obligations imposed by law. The judgment served to reinforce these societal pillars. Tian Zhi was found guilty on both counts, receiving corporal punishment and being ordered to annul the divorce and resume his marital obligations, thereby restoring family order and affirming the state's control over labor.

Tian Zhi was convicted. He was sentenced to a punishment of bastinado or penal labor, and was compelled to retract the divorce letter and reunite with his wife, thereby restoring the marriage and satisfying his parents' wishes.

The core disputes were whether a husband could legally divorce his wife without parental consent under Tang law and Confucian norms, and whether feigning illness to avoid corvée constituted a criminal offense, testing both family authority and state duty enforcement.

The case reinforced the absolute authority of parents over their children's marriages and underscored the inviolability of state corvée obligations. It demonstrated the Tang legal system's role in upholding patriarchal family structure and maintaining the fiscal-military foundation of the empire, serving as a deterrent against both filial insubordination and labor evasion.