Korean virgin ghost
specter of an unmarried woman in Korean folklore
Korean virgin ghosts (Korean: 처녀귀신; Hanja: 處女鬼神; RR: cheonyeo-gwisin) are the spirit of a young, unmarried woman in Korean folklore and urban legend. She is also known as a malmyeong, sonmalmyeong, or songaksi.
Origin
In early traditional Korea, women were brought up with the ideologies that their life's sole purpose shall be serving their father, husband, and children. It was believed that a woman gets lifelong resentment and cannot move into the afterlife if she dies before fulfilling her responsibilities. It was considered that to them dying a virgin is equivalent to their life being meaningless. Thus, in the folklore, unmarried young girls after death become a han and turns into evil spirits. They mainly attach to young girls of their age, harassing and harming them. They may also ruin the family and so are specially enlisted as a vassal in their household. A small shelf is hung on the wall in one corner, and a small wooden box is enshrined on it, or the spirit is enshrined in a door gap.
Appearance
The spirit is often depicted as a woman wearing a white hanbok, called sobok (소복), the traditional white mourning attire with their hair down.
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