Dahan (solar term)

The traditional Chinese calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms.^[1] Dàhán, Daikan, Daehan, or Đại hàn (Chinese and Japanese: 大寒; pinyin: dàhán; rōmaji: daikan; Korean: 대한; romaja: daehan; Vietnamese: đại hàn; lit. 'major cold') is the 24th solar term.^[2] It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 300° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 315°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 300°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around 20 January and ends around 4 February.

Dahan
Chinese name
Chinese	大寒
Literal meaning	major cold
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin dàhán Bopomofo ㄉㄚˋ ㄏㄢˊ Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization daaih hòhn Jyutping daai6 hon4
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	đại hàn
Chữ Hán	大寒
Korean name
Hangul	대한
Hanja	大寒
Transcriptions Revised Romanization daehan
Japanese name
Kanji	大寒
Hiragana	だいかん
Transcriptions Romanization daikan

Solar term

Term	Longitude	Dates
Lichun	315°	4–5 February
Yushui	330°	18–19 February
Jingzhe	345°	5–6 March
Chunfen	0°	20–21 March
Qingming	15°	4–5 April
Guyu	30°	20–21 April
Lixia	45°	5–6 May
Xiaoman	60°	21–22 May
Mangzhong	75°	5–6 June
Xiazhi	90°	21–22 June
Xiaoshu	105°	7–8 July
Dashu	120°	22–23 July
Liqiu	135°	7–8 August
Chushu	150°	23–24 August
Bailu	165°	7–8 September
Qiufen	180°	23–24 September
Hanlu	195°	8–9 October
Shuangjiang	210°	23–24 October
Lidong	225°	7–8 November
Xiaoxue	240°	22–23 November
Daxue	255°	7–8 December
Dongzhi	270°	21–22 December
Xiaohan	285°	5–6 January
Dahan	300°	20–21 January

Date and time

Date and Time (UTC)

Year	Begin	End
辛巳	2002-01-20 06:02	2002-02-04 00:24
壬午	2003-01-20 11:52	2003-02-04 06:05
癸未	2004-01-20 17:42	2004-02-04 11:56
甲申	2005-01-19 23:21	2005-02-03 17:43
乙酉	2006-01-20 05:15	2006-02-03 23:27
丙戌	2007-01-20 11:00	2007-02-04 05:18
丁亥	2008-01-20 16:43	2008-02-04 11:00
戊子	2009-01-19 22:40	2009-02-03 16:49
己丑	2010-01-20 04:27	2010-02-03 22:47
庚寅	2011-01-20 10:18	2011-02-04 04:32
辛卯	2012-01-20 16:09	2012-02-04 10:22
壬辰	2013-01-19 21:51	2013-02-03 16:13
癸巳	2014-01-20 03:51	2014-02-03 22:03
甲午	2015-01-20 09:43	2015-02-04 03:58
乙未	2016-01-20 15:27	2016-02-04 09:46
丙申	2017-01-19 21:23	2017-02-03 15:34
丁酉	2018-01-20 03:09	2018-02-03 21:28
戊戌	2019-01-20 08:59	2019-02-04 03:14
己亥	2020-01-20 14:54	2020-02-04 09:03
庚子	2021-01-19 20:39	2021-02-03 14:58
辛丑	2022-01-20 02:39	2022-02-03 20:50
壬寅	2023-01-20 08:29	2023-02-04 02:42
癸卯	2024-01-20 14:07	2024-02-04 08:27
甲辰	2025-01-19 20:00	2025-02-03 14:10
乙巳	2026-01-20 01:44	2026-02-03 20:02
丙午	2027-01-20 07:29	2027-02-04 01:46
丁未	2028-01-20 13:21	2028-02-04 07:31
戊申	2029-01-19 19:00	2029-02-03 13:20
己酉	2030-01-20 00:54	2030-02-03 19:08
庚戌	2031-01-20 06:47	2031-02-04 00:58
Sources: 2001-2020 JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System 2021-2030 Skyfield

Customs

There are many important folk customs during the period from Dahan to Lichun, such as getting rid of the old and bringing in the new, preserving meat, and the year-end festival.

Weiya (zh:做牙) is the year-end festival. Glutinous rice, steamed buns, and much alcohol are traditional foods. Getting a haircut and buying new year gifts are common activities at the end of the year. End of year work parties (年会) are a modern remnant of the year-end festival.

Some other traditional activities at this time of year:

• zh:扫尘 "dust removal", or cleaning the house to sweep away bad luck. Dust removal is usually done on the 23rd or 24th day of the twelfth lunar month.
• zh:糊窗 "Pasting windows". This was the traditional time to refresh paper windows. Some families would cut some auspicious patterns and paste them on the windows. It is usually done on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month.
• zh:腊味 "preserve meat", this time of year is the driest in China, which is a good time of year to preserve meat.
• zh:赶婚 "Rush to get married". Being a break in the agricultural year, it was traditionally a good time for marriages.^[3]