This site uses cookies for ad optimization and service analytics. Privacy Policy
Ipchu means entering autumn. Midsummer heat still rages, but a cool air begins to appear in the mornings and evenings.
Ipchu, around August 8, is the first term of autumn. Nominally autumn begins, and people prepare to plant kimchi cabbage.
A cool breeze begins to blow and the dew grows heavier. Yet the late-summer heat lingers, overlapping the last dog day.
People read the year's harvest by the Ipchu weather and sowed radish and cabbage for kimchi. They finished their summer tonics against the lingering heat.
Ipchu (Start of Autumn) begins when the Sun reaches 135° of ecliptic longitude, exactly halfway between the summer solstice point (90°) and the autumn equinox point (180°). · First pentad, 涼風至 — cool winds arrive. · Second pentad, 白露降 — white dew falls. · Third pentad, 寒蟬鳴 — the 'cold cicada' (寒蟬) sings. All three of Ipchu's signs are hints of autumn. The midday heat may be unchanged, but you notice the season turning first in the dawn breeze, the dew on grass blades and the different texture of cicada song at dusk. The 白露 of the second pentad is the same pair of characters as the name of the term a month later, White Dew (Baekro); one way to read it is that dew begins to fall at Ipchu and becomes distinct by Baekro. Early August in Korea is usually still a heatwave, so Ipchu's cool wind is felt at dawn and late at night rather than at midday.
Once Ipchu arrives, malbok, the last dog day, is close behind. Malbok is fixed as the first gyeong (庚) day after Ipchu, so it always comes within ten days of the term. That rule is also why some years have a twenty-day gap between jungbok and malbok, a pattern called wolbok, 'the leaping bok'. Around Ipchu, more households pick red chillies and set them out to dry, peaches are at their height, and the first Campbell grapes come in. With summer holidays ending and the school term approaching, it is a good point to reset daily rhythms: start pulling bedtimes back from Ipchu week, and wash the air-conditioner filters once more after a summer of heavy use. Typhoons begin to track toward the peninsula in this period, so secure balcony pots and anything loose around the outdoor AC unit.
In the Joseon period, if rain kept falling after Ipchu had passed, the state held a gicheongje (祈晴祭), a rite praying for the rain to stop — the exact reverse of the rain-making rites held in drought. Around Ipchu rice plants are heading, flowering and beginning to fill their grains, when sunshine matters most; if the monsoon rains dragged on at this point, the whole year's harvest could fail. Fields that waited for rain all summer would, past Ipchu, need it to stop — which makes Ipchu the point where farming's needs flipped.
| Year | Begins at |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Aug 7, 09:09 |
| 2025 | Aug 7, 14:52 |
| 2026 this year | Aug 7, 20:43 |
| 2027 | Aug 8, 02:27 |
| 2028 | Aug 7, 08:21 |
Start of Autumn is one of the twelve jeol (節) that switch the month pillar in Korean Four Pillars astrology. In 2026 the 申 month begins at Aug 7, 20:43. Anyone born before that moment carries the previous branch; anyone born after carries 申.
If your birthday falls near a solar term, the date alone does not settle your month pillar — you need the time of birth as well.
Taking Start of Autumn alone: it fell at Aug 7, 14:52 in 2025 and at Aug 7, 20:43 in 2026 — roughly 5.9 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, Start of Autumn sits at 135° and the next term End of Heat at 150° — about 15 days apart.
Prepare to sow kimchi radish and cabbage
Mind your health in the late heat and changing season
Prepare for wider day-night temperature swings
Plan the autumn farming
Adjacent terms:
Explore related fortunes
Start of Autumn is the 13th of the 24 solar terms, falling around August 8. Autumn begins. Even amid the heat, a cool air starts to settle in.
Ipchu means entering autumn. Midsummer heat still rages, but a cool air begins to appear in the mornings and evenings.
Prepare to sow kimchi radish and cabbage Mind your health in the late heat and changing season Prepare for wider day-night temperature swings Plan the autumn farming