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Cheoseo means the heat ceases. The swelter breaks and a cool autumn air begins to settle in.
Cheoseo, around August 23, is when the heat retreats. The saying "after Cheoseo even a mosquito's mouth goes crooked" is well known.
Mornings and evenings turn cool and the sky grows high. Grass stops growing, so this is the time to clear graves.
People aired out clothes and books grown damp over the summer (posae). Grave-clearing and harvest preparations begin now.
Cheoseo (End of Heat) begins when the Sun reaches 150° of ecliptic longitude. · First pentad, 鷹乃祭鳥 — the hawk lays out the birds it has caught. · Second pentad, 天地始肅 — heaven and earth begin to grow austere. · Third pentad, 禾乃登 — the grain ripens. The first pentad mirrors Usu's otter laying out fish: the hawk does not eat its catch at once but sets it out, and the scene was likened to an offering. The 肅 of the second pentad describes autumn's energy beginning to draw the plants in, so that the mood of the world settles and quietens. The 登 of the third pentad means the grain has ripened enough to be gathered. Around Cheoseo, rice in Korean paddies is heading and filling, so this last pentad is one you can see with your own eyes in the Korean countryside.
Figs start to appear around Cheoseo, late-season yellow peaches (hwangdo) are at their best, and new sweet potatoes and the first chestnuts begin to show up at markets. With mornings and evenings cooling, it is a good time to shift gradually from the cold dishes of summer back to warm broths. Cheoseo is when families start heading out for beolcho, clearing the grass on ancestral graves — and it coincides with a period of high hornet activity. Before cutting around a grave mound, prod the undergrowth with a stick to check for nests, and avoid strong perfume and dark clothing. When using a brush cutter, wear safety glasses and long trousers. At home, roll up the bamboo summer mat and air it in the sun before storing it, and take the fan blades off to wash them so the fan is ready to use next summer.
A Korean proverb says, 'If it rains at Cheoseo, even the grain in the jar shrinks.' Around Cheoseo rice is heading and filling its grains and needs sunshine most; rain at this point keeps the crop from ripening properly and cuts the harvest. Saying that even grain already stored in the jar would shrink shows how much people feared rain at this term. Where Cheoseo's other famous saying — about the mosquito's mouth going crooked — welcomes a change in the season, this one voices the farming worry of the very same fortnight.
| Year | Begins at |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Aug 22, 23:55 |
| 2025 | Aug 23, 05:34 |
| 2026 this year | Aug 23, 11:19 |
| 2027 | Aug 23, 17:14 |
| 2028 | Aug 22, 23:01 |
End of Heat is a jungi (中氣) rather than a jeol (節), so the Four Pillars month pillar does not change here. It marks the middle of a season.
Taking End of Heat alone: it fell at Aug 23, 05:34 in 2025 and at Aug 23, 11:19 in 2026 — roughly 5.8 hours later. The date jumps back a day in 2028 because that is a leap year, so February 29 falls before the term begins.
By longitude, End of Heat sits at 150° and the next term White Dew at 165° — about 15 days apart.
Dry out clothes and bedding damp from the rains
Prepare for grave-clearing and ancestral visits
Manage immunity in the changing season
Sow autumn crops
Adjacent terms:
Explore related fortunes
End of Heat is the 14th of the 24 solar terms, falling around August 23. The heat retreats. "After Cheoseo, even a mosquito's mouth goes crooked."
Cheoseo means the heat ceases. The swelter breaks and a cool autumn air begins to settle in.
Dry out clothes and bedding damp from the rains Prepare for grave-clearing and ancestral visits Manage immunity in the changing season Sow autumn crops