"Singugan" (新舊間), which literally means "between the old and the new," is a unique folk custom of Jeju Island. The custom is practiced from the fifth day after "Daehan" (大寒) until three days before "Ipchun" (立春). According to a folk legend, Singugan refers to the time between the last season of an old year and the first season of a new year, during which the deities in charge of earthly affairs were done with their jobs and returned to the Great Jade Emperor in heaven, while the new gods were not yet assigned to the earth. In other words, it was believed that since this was the time when the gods were absent from the earth, men could move, repair a house or toilet, or dig up a yard or cut down a tree without bringing misfortune upon themselves.

신구간 관련 자료

Repairing the Pig Toilet in Pyoseon-myeon, Namjeju-gun, Jeju Island	Singugan Moving, Jeju City, Jeju Island

When the islanders could not move during "Singugan," they moved grain sieves and sifters first. Grain sievers and sifters were key items when moving, so it was believed that moving these symbolic objects meant that the entire house had moved, and they could finish moving on later dates. This custom is still observed in Jeju Island. Most people choose to move during the "Singugan" period, and people even fit the date of moving into a new apartment to Singugan. According to a report in the Jemin Ilbo dated January 9, 1998, during the "Singugan period" alone, over 20,000 households moved. In the case of Jeju city, out of 13,751 households (17% of the total households in Jeju Island), an impressive 34,484 persons moved during Singugan, accounting for more than half of the total number of people who moved in one year (from "Opinion" in the Halla Ilbo dated October, 4, 1991).