Major Snow (大雪, Daxue): Dates, the 子 Month and Winter Habits

Major Snow (大雪, Daxue) is the 21st solar term. At 255 degrees of solar longitude it opens the Rat month (子), the month that contains the winter solstice and sits at the very centre of the Water season.

Dates

Major Snow begins on 7 December 2026 at 11:52 Korea time, and on 7 December 2027 at 17:37. It is a jie (節) term, so the month pillar turns over: in 2026 the Rat month is 庚子, and in 2027 it is 壬子. The winter solstice follows 14 days 17 hours 58 minutes later in 2026.

子 is the first of the twelve branches. In the day it is the hour around midnight (23:00-01:00), and in the year it is the month around the solstice. Both are the 'deepest' point of their cycle, the moment the tradition says the smallest spark of yang begins to return.

Three Rat months in a row

Because the stem on the month moves on by two every year, consecutive Rat months never repeat for five years. The engine's own sample day of 1 January 2026 still lies in the previous Rat month, which lets us line up three of them. The branch 子 holds only Water in its hidden stems.

The 子 month in three consecutive winters
Winter	Year pillar	Month pillar	How we know
2025-26	乙巳	戊子	sample day 2026-01-01 (month 戊子)
2026-27	丙午	庚子	from 2026-12-07 11:52; sample day 2026-12-22 (month 庚子)
2027-28	丁未	壬子	from 2027-12-07 17:37 (five-tigers rule for 丁)
Hidden stems of 子		壬 10 days, 癸 20 days	both Water

What the name means

大 means big and 雪 is snow. Compared with Minor Snow two weeks earlier, the name expects heavier, lasting snowfall. As with all the terms, it grew out of the climate of the Yellow River region, so it is a description of the season's character rather than a forecast for any town.

What changes in nature

In Korea real cold settles in. Snow is more likely to stay on the ground in the mountains and the central regions, rivers begin to freeze at the edges, and nights reach below zero in much of the country. An old Korean saying holds that plenty of snow around Major Snow means a good harvest the next year, since a snow blanket protects winter barley and adds moisture to the fields.

The classical signs for this term are that the mountain bird (鶡鴠) stops calling, tigers begin to seek mates, and a hardy grass called lixing (荔挺) sends up shoots; the last two hint that new life is already stirring inside deep winter.

Seasonal foods

With kimjang finished, dongchimi, the watery radish kimchi, starts to be ready in many homes, cold and tangy next to warm rice. In parts of China there is a saying pairing Minor Snow with pickling vegetables and Major Snow with curing meat. For a simple Korean-style winter bowl, black sesame porridge or a warm abalone porridge are gentle, filling choices.

Gentle habits for the season

Wear a scarf and hat; much of the body's warmth feels lost at the neck and head.
On snowy or icy days, walk with shorter steps and keep hands free rather than in pockets.
Keep moving indoors with light stretches when it is too cold to go out.
Air the room briefly at midday, when it is warmest, to refresh stale heated air.

A line of poetry

Cen Shen's 《白雪歌送武判官歸京》 (Song of White Snow, Seeing Off Secretary Wu) describes a frontier snowfall as spring blossom: 「忽如一夜春風來，千樹萬樹梨花開。」 "As if a spring wind came in one night, and on a thousand, ten thousand trees the pear blossoms opened."

Questions

Does Major Snow mean the heaviest snow of the year?

Not necessarily. In Korea the heaviest snow often comes in January or later. The name describes the tradition's expectation for this stage of winter.

What is the month pillar from Major Snow 2026?

庚子, beginning at 11:52 KST on 7 December 2026, since 2026 is a 丙 year.

Why is 子 called the start of the branches?

It contains the winter solstice, where the tradition places the return of yang, so counting begins there, just as the day's count begins at the 子 hour around midnight.

What comes after Major Snow?

The winter solstice (冬至), at 05:50 KST on 22 December 2026.

Recipes for this season

Abalone Rice Porridge (Jeonbokjuk) and the Water ElementKorean abalone porridge in 40 minutes: 2 abalone, 1 cup of rice, 6 cups of water. Why the tradition reads it as an even, all-season Water dish.Baek-kimchi: a Cool Metal White Kimchi without ChiliKorean white kimchi with napa cabbage, radish and pear in a clear brine, no chili. How the tradition reads its white colour as Metal.Black Sesame Porridge: a Black, Water-Element BowlBlack sesame porridge in 20 minutes with 4 tbsp black sesame and glutinous rice. Why black foods are read as Water, for autumn and winter tables.Broccoli and Tofu Salad: a 15-Minute Wood and Water SideA 15-minute Korean side of blanched broccoli and mashed tofu, and how the five-element tradition reads its green Wood and soft Water.Chestnut Rice (Bam-bap): an Autumn Earth BowlKorean chestnut rice for 2 in 50 minutes: 10 peeled chestnuts and 3 jujubes on soaked rice. Why the tradition reads it as Earth.Ginger and Jujube Chicken Soup for Cold MonthsChicken soup with ginger, 6 jujubes and 5 garlic cloves, simmered 45 minutes. A warm Fire and Earth dish the tradition sets for autumn and winter.