Winter in Korea and the 24 Solar Terms

We are lucky to have four seasons in Korea: spring, summer, fall and winter. My favorite season is fall when the weather is usually mild and the scenery is enchanting. Winter is my least favorite season and it’s all because I don’t like the freezing cold weather. I couldn’t go out as much as I want to and we have to spend for the heater to keep our house warm. However, we still try to enjoy the season by visiting the numerous museums in and around Seoul. It’s usually during this season when we go to the National Science Museum in Gwacheon, the War Museum in Yongsan, the Seoul Science Museum near Hyehwa-dong, the Natural Science Museum in Seodaemun-gu and the National Folk Museum in Gyeongbokgung. This is also the season when I enjoy eating my favorite comfort foods. More about that in a later post. Of course, it’s also when we spend four hours just shopping for groceries!
As much as I don’t like winter, we still try our best to enjoy it. Do you know that every season in Korea has six solar terms called “jeol-gi” (Hangeul: 절기). There is a total of 24 절기. For winter, the solar terms are:
“ip-dong” or 입동 – November 7 – the start of the winter season
“so-seol” or 소설 – November 22 – which signals the beginning of light snowfall
“dae-seol” or 대설 – December 7 – when heavier snowfall is expected
“dong-ji” or 동지 – December 21 – winter solstice
“so-han” or 소한 – January 6 – the start of the coldest days of winter
“dae-han” or 대한 – January 21 – the coldest day of winter
Each solar term is 15 days apart in the calendar. The other solar terms are as follows:
Spring:
“ip-chun” or 입춘 – February 4 – spring season begins
“u-su” or 우수 – February 19 – spring rain
“kyeong-chip” or 경칩 – March 5 – when insects and frogs awaken from their hibernation
“chun-bun” or 춘분 – March 20 – the day begins to lengthen
“cheong-myeong” or 청명 – April 4 – preparation for spring farming
“gogu” or 곡우 – April 20 – farming rain fall
Summer:
“ip-ha” or 입하 – May 5 – summer begins
“so-man” or 소만 – May 21 – farming begins
“mang-jong” or 망종 – June 5 – seeding started
“ha-ji” or 하지 – June 21 – summer solstice
“so-seo” or 소서 – July 7 – start of the summer heat
“dae-seo” or 대서 – July 22 – start of the hottest days of summer
Autumn:
“ip-chu” or 입추 – August 7 – the start of autumn
“cheo-seo” or 처서 – August 23 – when the heat cools and temperature gap increases
“beng-no” or 백로 – September 7 – when dew begins to fall
“chu-bun” or 추분 – September 22 – autumn equinox
“han-no” or 한로 – October 8 – when cold dew begins to fall
“sang-gang” or 상강 – October 23 – when frost begins to fall
Isn’t it wonderful to be living in a country with four seasons?