Daehan (大寒)

"Daehan" (大寒), which literally means "great cold," refers to the 24th and last of the 24 seasonal sub-divisions, or solar terms, of the lunar calendar. "Daehan" falls on the last day of the lunar calendar, or around January 20 on the solar calendar.

대한 관련 자료

"Landscape of Daehan" by Lee Eok-yeong	Sleigh Riding in Seosan City, South Chungcheongnam-do

From the time of the year known as "Ipdong" (立冬) through "Soseol" (小雪), "Daeseol" (大雪), and "Dongji" (冬至) to "Sohan" (小寒), the winter cold only gets colder. They may say "Daehan" after "Sohan" is the coldest day of the year, but that’s according to the Chinese calendar. In Korea the coldest time falls around "Sohan".
As the Korean saying goes: "There is no Sohan that is not cold and no Daehan that is not warm," "Daehan" is less cold than "Sohan." Another Korean saying, "At the end of Daehan comes spring," which roughly means "There’s no gain without pain," is used to encourage people to endure hardships in order to achieve success in the end. The saying reflected the characteristics of the solar term "Daehan," which is the last cold spell of the year.

신구간_표선 관련 자료

Singugan, Pyoseon
Moving House	Repairing the Fence
Repairing the Wall	Repairing the Kitchen

In the meantime, Jeju islanders refer to the period between the fifth day after "Daehan" and the third day before "Ipchun" as "Singugan" (新舊間). "Singugan" is a roughly one-week period during which people move house, or carry out repairs or work around the house. According to a folk legend, during this period the gods in charge of earthly affairs in the old year and the new gods in charge of earthly affairs in the new year traded places by ascending to the Great Jade Emperor, so there's a period when the god are absent from the earth. Free from the wrath of the earth gods, people could engage in various tasks, such as repair work or moving house.