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Ipchun is the first of the 24 solar terms and, in Korean astrology (Saju), the point at which the year's pillar changes. Though winter's cold lingers, the energy of spring begins to stir underground.
Ipchun means "entering spring" and arrives around February 4. In Korean Four Pillars astrology it marks the start of the new year, so the year pillar changes at the moment Ipchun begins. The everyday animal sign is usually counted from Lunar New Year instead (this site uses Lunar New Year for it), so anyone born between Lunar New Year and Ipchun can have a different animal under each rule.
It still feels like deep winter, yet the days grow noticeably longer and the frozen earth begins to thaw. Farmers treated it as the starting point for the year's work.
The signature custom is posting "Ipchun daegil"—calligraphy wishing great fortune—on doors and pillars. People welcomed spring with osinban, a dish of five fresh seasoned greens.
Ipchun (Start of Spring) begins when the Sun reaches 315° of ecliptic longitude, and the roughly fifteen days until Usu (Rain Water) were divided into three five-day pentads, called hu (候). With three pentads for each of the 24 terms, the full cycle has 72, and Ipchun's three open the list. · First pentad, 東風解凍 — the east wind begins to loosen the frozen ground and ice. · Second pentad, 蟄蟲始振 — insects hibernating in the soil stir for the first time. · Third pentad, 魚陟負氷 — fish rise to just beneath the ice, swimming as if carrying it on their backs. What makes these so fitting for Ipchun is that none of them is visible spring: each describes a change that starts beneath the ice or underground. The Book of Rites (Liji, 'Yueling' chapter) records the third sign as 魚上冰, 'fish rise onto the ice.' The 72 pentads were compiled from observations of the North China plain, and in central Korea, where winter is dominated by northwesterly winds, an east wind thawing the ground in early February is often hard to notice. Read against the Korean climate, Ipchun's pentads work less as an announcement that spring has arrived and more as a note that it has started somewhere out of sight.
Around Ipchun the vegetable to look for is bomdong, a cabbage that grows through the winter in open fields with its leaves spread flat instead of forming a tight head. Tossed raw as a quick geotjeori salad or added to doenjang soup, it tastes noticeably sweet. Winter cockles (kkomak) are still in season now as well, simply boiled and topped with a soy-based sauce. Lunar New Year falls within a couple of weeks of Ipchun in many years, so after a run of rich holiday dishes, a sharp, light bomdong salad helps rebalance the Ipchun table. As for clothing, don't take the term's name at its word. 'Start of Spring' tempts people into a lighter coat too early, but mornings in central Korea often still dip below freezing at this point. What is changing is the sunrise, which comes a little earlier each day after Ipchun, so this is a good fortnight to open the curtains early, let the morning sun in, and gradually pull back a wake-up time that drifted late over winter.
When the weather turned bitterly cold after Ipchun had passed, people would ask, 'Did someone post the Ipchun sign upside down?' It is usually read as a joke that spring had been sent backward, and it shows how often one more cold spell followed the term. There is also a recorded custom called jeokseon gongdeokhaeng (積善功德行): on the night of Ipchun you were to do a good deed in secret to ward off misfortune for the year, such as laying stepping stones across a stream or leaving grain at the door of a household in need. Keeping the deed anonymous was the whole point.
| Year | Begins at |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Feb 4, 17:27 |
| 2025 | Feb 3, 23:10 |
| 2026 this year | Feb 4, 05:02 |
| 2027 | Feb 4, 10:46 |
| 2028 | Feb 4, 16:31 |
Start of Spring is one of the twelve jeol (節) that switch the month pillar in Korean Four Pillars astrology. In 2026 the 寅 month begins at Feb 4, 05:02. Anyone born before that moment carries the previous branch; anyone born after carries 寅.
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 Spring alone: it fell at Feb 3, 23:10 in 2025 and at Feb 4, 05:02 in 2026 — roughly 5.9 hours later. The date jumps back a day in 2025 because the year before, 2024, was a leap year — February 29 fell between the two ingresses. January and February terms move earlier the year after a leap year, not in the leap year itself.
By longitude, Start of Spring sits at 315° and the next term Rain Water at 330° — about 15 days apart.
Post a spring wish to open the new year
Air out and tidy the winter-stale home
Awaken your appetite with spring greens
A good time to check your yearly fortune
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Start of Spring is the 1st of the 24 solar terms, falling around February 4. The first solar term, marking the start of spring—the day to open the year's fortune.
Ipchun is the first of the 24 solar terms and, in Korean astrology (Saju), the point at which the year's pillar changes. Though winter's cold lingers, the energy of spring begins to stir underground.
Post a spring wish to open the new year Air out and tidy the winter-stale home Awaken your appetite with spring greens A good time to check your yearly fortune