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Daehan means "greater cold," the last of the 24 solar terms. The cold is fierce, but in the cycle of terms, spring (Ipchun) is just ahead.
Daehan, around January 20, is the final solar term. The year's cycle ends at Daehan and circles back to Ipchun.
Nominally the coldest term, though in Korea Sohan is felt as colder. Even amid the cold, the daylight lengthens and spring's energy draws near.
The last day of Daehan, called "year-crossing," was treated like welcoming the new year by sending off the old energy. People roasted beans to drive out misfortune and closed winter with warm food.
Daehan (Greater Cold) begins when the Sun reaches 300° of ecliptic longitude and is the final position in the cycle of 24 terms; another 15° brings the Sun back to Ipchun at 315°. · First pentad, 雞始乳 — hens begin to brood. · Second pentad, 征鳥厲疾 — birds of prey grow fierce and swift. · Third pentad, 水澤腹堅 — the ice on ponds and marshes freezes solid right through its middle. The very last of the 72 signs is 'the ice is solid to its core', and the very first, Ipchun's opening pentad, is 'the east wind loosens the ice' — so the pentads end at the hardest ice and begin again as that ice thaws. The hens of the first pentad are getting ready to hatch chicks in time for spring, and the second pentad observes that hunting birds become more ferocious in midwinter, when prey is scarce. In Korea, Sohan often feels colder than Daehan, yet ice on reservoirs and lakes tends to reach its thickest around now, after weeks of accumulated cold.
In quite a few years Seollal, the Lunar New Year, falls within Daehan. For holiday shopping, get the items that grow most crowded as the holiday nears — fruit and fish for the ancestral table — out of the way early, and buy plenty of rice cake for tteokguk, freezing it in single-meal portions so it is easy to use after the holiday too. Winter strawberries are in full swing, and soups made from stored radish and cabbage are gentle on the stomach. At the tail end of a long winter, time spent indoors stretches out and the body stiffens easily. Around Daehan, get outside for a walk at least once a day while the sun is up, and loosen your shoulders and back with stretches indoors. With Ipchun just ahead, ordering seeds and potting soil for spring now means you can start a balcony garden as soon as the weather turns.
A Korean proverb says, 'At the end of Daehan there is a warm spring (陽春).' It means that once the term named for the greatest cold has passed, warm spring soon follows, and it is widely used as a figure of speech for good times arriving after hardship. The proverb simply turns the order of the calendar into a lesson: Daehan is the last of the 24 terms, and the very next is Ipchun. Where 'Daehan froze to death visiting Sohan's house' compares the two terms' cold, this saying speaks to Daehan's place as both an ending and a beginning.
| Year | Begins at |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Jan 20, 23:07 |
| 2025 | Jan 20, 05:00 |
| 2026 this year | Jan 20, 10:45 |
| 2027 | Jan 20, 16:30 |
| 2028 | Jan 20, 22:22 |
Greater Cold 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 Greater Cold alone: it fell at Jan 20, 05:00 in 2025 and at Jan 20, 10:45 in 2026 — roughly 5.8 hours later.
By longitude, Greater Cold sits at 300° and the next term Start of Spring at 315° — about 15 days apart.
Close out winter and prepare for Ipchun
Keep warm through the last of the cold
Tidy up lingering household chores
Make plans to welcome spring
Adjacent terms:
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Greater Cold is the 24th of the 24 solar terms, falling around January 20. The "greater cold," the last solar term. The end of winter, just before spring (Ipchun).
Daehan means "greater cold," the last of the 24 solar terms. The cold is fierce, but in the cycle of terms, spring (Ipchun) is just ahead.
Close out winter and prepare for Ipchun Keep warm through the last of the cold Tidy up lingering household chores Make plans to welcome spring