还乡女
huán xiāng nǚ
(Korean term) women who returned to Korea after being abducted during the Manchu invasions of Korea in the 17th century, only to be regarded as defiled and therefore ostracized, even by their own families
return (还) + home village (乡) + woman (女) = women who came back but were never welcomed back
They crossed the distance home — 还 carries the sense of reversing a journey, 乡 the place of origin and belonging — yet the return that should have meant reunion instead brought rejection. The word quietly holds both the journey and its cruel irony.
还乡女回国后，却被家人视为不洁之人。
huán xiāng nǚ huí guó hòu, què bèi jiā rén shì wéi bù jié zhī rén。
after the huán xiāng nǚ returned home, they were regarded by their own families as defiled people.
历史上，还乡女即使回到故土，也难以被社会重新接纳。
lì shǐ shàng, huán xiāng nǚ jí shǐ huí dào gù tǔ, yě nán yǐ bèi shè huì chóng xīn jiē nà。
historically, even after the huán xiāng nǚ returned to their homeland, it was difficult for society to accept them again.