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Usu is when rain falls instead of snow and melting ice swells the waters. It is the gateway to full spring.
Usu means "rain water" and arrives around February 19. As the cold eases, rivers and soil begin to hold moisture again.
As the proverb says, "By Usu and Gyeongchip even the Daedong River thaws"—the cold breaks around now. Otters catch fish and wild geese head north.
Farmers saw it as a good time to make fermented soybean paste, preparing meju blocks. They also checked their seeds and tools for the coming season.
Usu (Rain Water) begins when the Sun reaches 330° of ecliptic longitude, fifteen degrees on from Ipchun. All three of its pentads record living things on the move. · First pentad, 獺祭魚 — the otter lays its catch out along the bank. Because the row of fish looked like an offering table, the character for a ritual offering (祭) was used. · Second pentad, 鴻雁來 — the wild geese come. These are spring geese: flocks that wintered in the south and are now heading north. · Third pentad, 草木萌動 — grasses and trees begin to bud. The sequence runs from thawing water that makes the otter's hunting easier, to migrants preparing to leave, to plants responding last of all. In Korea too, the wild geese that spend the winter here begin heading north around this time, so Usu's second pentad fits the Korean sky fairly well. Otters are now a protected natural monument in Korea and rarely seen, but the old habit of marking the river thaw by the otter's hunt has travelled down with the name Usu.
In quite a few years Jeongwol Daeboreum, the first full moon of the lunar year, falls within Usu. When it does, the table for this term means ogokbap (five-grain rice) with 'old greens': dried pumpkin strips, eggplant, bracken and the like, soaked and stir-fried. It is also a sensible way to use up whatever dried vegetables are left from last autumn. Early-spring minari (water dropwort), such as the well-known crop from Hanjae in Cheongdo, starts to appear now as well. Since this is literally the thawing term, check the house and its surroundings with the thaw in mind. Look for cracks in retaining walls, fences and embankments that have frozen and thawed repeatedly, and for spots on hillside paths where loosened soil could let rocks slide. Around Usu, meltwater from the afternoon readily refreezes overnight, leaving shaded alleys slippery the next morning.
| Year | Begins at |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Feb 19, 13:13 |
| 2025 | Feb 18, 19:07 |
| 2026 this year | Feb 19, 00:52 |
| 2027 | Feb 19, 06:33 |
| 2028 | Feb 19, 12:26 |
Rain Water 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 Rain Water alone: it fell at Feb 18, 19:07 in 2025 and at Feb 19, 00:52 in 2026 — roughly 5.8 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, Rain Water sits at 330° and the next term Awakening of Insects at 345° — about 15 days apart.
A good time to make sauces and ferments
Watch for seasonal colds
Manage indoor humidity against dryness
Prepare pots and garden beds for spring
Adjacent terms:
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Rain Water is the 2nd of the 24 solar terms, falling around February 19. Snow turns to rain and ice melts. "By Usu and Gyeongchip, even the frozen rivers thaw."
Usu is when rain falls instead of snow and melting ice swells the waters. It is the gateway to full spring.
A good time to make sauces and ferments Watch for seasonal colds Manage indoor humidity against dryness Prepare pots and garden beds for spring