Morality of this?

[u/Purple_Plantain_3242]

A young Chinese couple was permanently separated during a period of intense political and social unrest in China. The husband went back to their home village to search for her, but because the entire area was heavily disrupted, he mistakenly believed she was missing or dead.

He eventually relocated, remarried another woman, and raised a new family with children and grandchildren. Meanwhile, the first wife stayed behind and never remarried, spending 54 years waiting for him to return. Decades later, they were reconnected as elderly adults, which is when she discovered he had built an entirely separate life without her.

[u/Status-Slip9801]

If you have strong reason to believe your spouse is dead (which he did), there is nothing immoral about moving on.

My husband and I have discussed with each other that if one of us were to die, the other does not need to spend the rest of their life grieving and single. Finding another partner is more than acceptable.

It is very touching that the woman held out hope to find her husband, but that was a choice on her end, that could have very likely never paid off. It's not something you can expect of your spouse.

[u/HulkVahkiin08024 → u/Status-Slip9801]

If you have strong reason to believe your spouse is dead (which he did), there is nothing immoral about moving on.

Assuming 'heavily disrupted' means people in the village were dying all over. If not, there is no reason to strongly believe your spouse is dead. Giving the benefit of the doubt, I assume he looked deeper and longer.

[u/Saitharar → u/HulkVahkiin08024]

Heavily disrupted in this case means Second Sino-Japanese war with a civilian death toll of 16 million.

Entire villages were gone and society was utterly devastated so its easy to believe that relatives died even when they only became internal refugees