In the East, during ancient times, a woman was deemed to be subservient to a man. She had to serve him, and manage and sustain the family in his absence. Therefore, women who did not marry were seen as of a lower rank. Unlike the men, their family could not ‘invite’ them back to be prayed for after their death and they were labelled as wandering spirits because they did not fulfil their social roles.

In Taiwan, it is a common belief that the deceased need merits for their next birth. The prayers that they receive from the human realm provide the merits for their next birth. Unmarried women are believed to manifest sickness in some people so temples were specially built for deceased unmarried women. Another unusual practice is to have a ‘legal’ union between a deceased unmarried woman and a living man through a ‘ghost marriage’. These are ways in which the Taiwanese folk believe that these women will have better statuses and thus better treatment.