Lichun 立春, Start of Spring: dates, meaning and customs

Lichun (立春, Ipchun in Korean) is the first of the 24 solar terms. It arrives when the sun reaches 315 degrees of ecliptic longitude, and in the Four Pillars calendar it is the exact moment the year pillar changes and the Tiger (寅) month begins.

When Lichun falls

In 2026 Lichun fell on 4 February at 05:02 Korea time; in 2027 it comes on 4 February at 10:46. The date barely moves because the solar terms follow the sun, not the moon; only the clock time slides later each year until a leap day pulls it back.

This matters for the saju calendar, which counts a new year from Lichun, not from 1 January and not from the lunar New Year. Until 05:02 on 4 February 2026 the year pillar was still 乙巳; from that minute it became 丙午. The lunar New Year (Seollal) came on 17 February 2026, thirteen days after Lichun, and in 2027 it falls on 7 February, only three days after it.

Start of Spring at a glance: 2026 and 2027
Item	2026	2027
Moment (KST)	2026-02-04 05:02	2027-02-04 10:46
Sun longitude	315°	315°
Kind	jie (節) - opens a month	jie (節) - opens a month
Year pillar in force	丙午	丁未
Month pillar it opens	庚寅	壬寅
Hidden stems of 寅 (days)	戊 7d · 丙 7d · 甲 16d	戊 7d · 丙 7d · 甲 16d
Length of this month (to Awakening of Insects 驚蟄)	29 d 17 h 57 min	29 d 17 h 53 min
Time to Rain Water 雨水	14 d 19 h 50 min	14 d 19 h 47 min
Shift from 2026 to 2027	-	365 d 5 h 44 min

What the name means

The character 立 means "to establish", and 春 is spring. The name does not claim spring weather has arrived; it says spring has been set up in principle. The tradition reads Lichun as the point where yang energy, stored underground through winter, begins to rise.

Lichun is a jie (節), a month-opening term. By the Five Tigers rule a 丙 year opens with 庚寅 and a 丁 year such as 2027 with 壬寅. The branch 寅 is yang Wood; its hidden stems (戊, 丙, 甲) picture early spring as a little Earth and Fire carried over, with Wood taking the lead.

Year pillars switch at the Lichun moment
Year	Pillar	Korean reading	Lichun (KST)
2025	乙巳	을사	2025-02-03 23:10
2026	丙午	병오	2026-02-04 05:02
2027	丁未	정미	2027-02-04 10:46
2028	戊申	무신	2028-02-04 16:31

What changes in nature

In Korea early February is often still one of the coldest stretches of winter. Rivers stay frozen in the north and mornings are sharp. Yet the afternoons are visibly longer, plum buds swell on sunny walls, and in the south the flat winter cabbage called bomdong is at its sweetest. Old almanacs split every term into three five-day pentads; for Lichun they read: the east wind melts the ice, hibernating creatures begin to stir, and fish rise toward the ice.

東風解凍 - the east wind thaws the frozen ground
蟄蟲始振 - hibernating insects first stir
魚陟負冰 - fish swim up under the ice

Seasonal foods

A long Korean custom is the plate of five pungent spring greens (osinchae), eaten around Lichun to greet the new season. Today many households simply make a quick salad of bomdong, wild chives (dallae) or shepherd's purse (naengi), dressed with a little soy sauce, vinegar and sesame. The idea is simple: eat the first fresh greens the ground offers, lightly seasoned.

Gentle living for early spring

The classical text Huangdi Neijing describes spring as a season to "lie down at night, rise early and walk slowly in the courtyard". As lifestyle advice: get some morning daylight, keep warm layers on because the cold is not finished, and stretch a few minutes after a winter spent hunched against the wind.

Korean customs

On Lichun many Korean homes and shops still paste up ipchunchup, paper strips brushed with 立春大吉建陽多慶 ("great fortune as spring begins, much happiness as the bright yang builds") on the gate or front door. Some families like to put them up at the exact minute of the term, which in 2026 meant just after five in the morning.

A classical line for the season

不知細葉誰裁出，二月春風似剪刀。

Who cut out these slender leaves? The spring wind of the second month is like a pair of scissors.

He Zhizhang, "Ode to the Willow (詠柳)"

Questions

Why does the saju year start at Lichun?

The Four Pillars calendar is built on the sun's path. The year and months are counted from the jie terms, and Lichun is the first jie, so the year pillar changes at the Lichun minute rather than on 1 January or at Seollal.

Is Lichun the same as the lunar New Year?

No. Lichun is fixed by the sun at 315 degrees and lands on 3-5 February. Seollal follows the moon, so in 2026 it came 13 days after Lichun and in 2027 it comes 3 days after.

Why is the 2027 time later than 2026?

A solar year is a little longer than 365 days: the two Lichun moments are 365 days, 5 hours and 44 minutes apart.

Someone born on 4 February - which year pillar do they have?

It depends on the minute. For 2026, birth before 05:02 KST belongs to the 乙巳 year, and from 05:02 onward to 丙午.

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.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.Garlic Chive Pancake (Buchujeon): a Spring Wood DishCrisp garlic chive pancake in 20 minutes with 1 cup of pancake mix and 1 egg. A warm Wood dish the tradition pairs with spring and summer.Braised Tofu with Kelp: a Water and Earth Side DishTofu braised in kelp broth and soy sauce in 20 minutes. An even, year-round side dish the tradition reads as Water and Earth together.Beef Seaweed Soup (Miyeokguk) and Its ElementsKorean beef and seaweed soup in 35 minutes: 15 g dried seaweed, 150 g beef, 6 cups water. A warm Water and Earth soup for autumn, winter and spring.Spinach Doenjang Soup: Green Wood in a 15-Minute BowlSpinach and tofu soybean-paste soup in 15 minutes with 4 cups of anchovy broth. A Wood and Earth soup for spring, autumn and winter.