Ipchun: Why Your Saju Year Starts Around February 4
Born on January 28: are you the new zodiac animal or the old one? Every website seems to give a different answer, and a Korean saju reader may give a third. The confusion comes from three different ideas of when a year begins: January 1, Lunar New Year and Ipchun. Saju uses Ipchun, and once you see why, the rest falls into place.
What Ipchun is
Ipchun (입춘, 立春), "spring begins," is one of the 24 solar terms (jeolgi, 절기, 節氣) that divide the sun's yearly path into 15-degree steps. It is the moment the sun reaches 315 degrees of celestial longitude, halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. In recent years it has fallen on February 3 or 4 in Korea.
Two details matter. First, Ipchun is an instant, not a day: in 2027 it arrives at 10:46 a.m. Korea time on Thursday, February 4. Second, it is the same instant everywhere on Earth, so the local date and time depend on where you are.
| Place | Local time of Ipchun 2027 |
|---|---|
| Seoul (UTC+9) | Thursday, February 4, 10:46 a.m. |
| Beijing (UTC+8) | Thursday, February 4, 9:46 a.m. |
| London (UTC) | Thursday, February 4, 1:46 a.m. |
| New York (UTC−5) | Wednesday, February 3, 8:46 p.m. |
| Los Angeles (UTC−8) | Wednesday, February 3, 5:46 p.m. |
These are the published almanac times. Sajucheop’s calculator computes the solar terms itself and can differ from published times by a few minutes, so for a birth within a few minutes of Ipchun, go by the published time.
Ipchun opens the first saju month as well as the year. Saju months begin at the twelve jeol (절, 節) terms, one every 30 degrees of the sun's path, and each starts a new branch:
| Solar term | Around | Month branch |
|---|---|---|
| Start of Spring (Ipchun 입춘) | Feb 4 | 寅 Tiger |
| Awakening of Insects (Gyeongchip 경칩) | Mar 5 | 卯 Rabbit |
| Clear and Bright (Cheongmyeong 청명) | Apr 5 | 辰 Dragon |
| Start of Summer (Ipha 입하) | May 5 | 巳 Snake |
| Grain in Ear (Mangjong 망종) | Jun 6 | 午 Horse |
| Minor Heat (Soseo 소서) | Jul 7 | 未 Goat |
| Start of Autumn (Ipchu 입추) | Aug 7 | 申 Monkey |
| White Dew (Baengno 백로) | Sep 7 | 酉 Rooster |
| Cold Dew (Hallo 한로) | Oct 8 | 戌 Dog |
| Start of Winter (Ipdong 입동) | Nov 7 | 亥 Pig |
| Major Snow (Daeseol 대설) | Dec 7 | 子 Rat |
| Minor Cold (Sohan 소한) | Jan 5 | 丑 Ox |
Why not January 1 or Lunar New Year?
Saju is a calendar of seasons. Its five elements map onto the seasons, Wood onto spring, Fire onto summer and so on, and seasons are made by the sun, not by the moon or the civil calendar. So the chart's year begins where spring begins, with the Tiger month, and each month begins when the sun crosses the next 30-degree mark.
January 1 plays no part in the tradition at all. Lunar New Year, Seollal (설날) in Korea and Chunjie (春節) in China, is the first day of the lunar calendar. In most years it falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, anywhere from January 21 to February 20. It is the right boundary for holidays, lunar birthdays and the popular zodiac, and it is the boundary Sajucheop's zodiac finder uses. But a lunar month says nothing precise about the season, so the Four Pillars never used it. This is not a Korean quirk: Chinese BaZi also turns the year at the Start of Spring, which it calls Lichun, and in both countries the popular zodiac often follows Lunar New Year instead.
The 2027 case, hour by hour
Early 2027 puts all three boundaries inside three days. The Fire Horse year (丙午) gives way to the Fire Goat year (丁未), and the calendars disagree about when:
- Ipchun: February 4, 10:46 a.m. Korea time. The saju year pillar becomes 丁未.
- Chinese New Year: February 6. The new moon falls at 11:56 p.m. on February 6, China time.
- Seollal: February 7. The same new moon is 12:56 a.m. on February 7 in Korea, so the Korean lunar calendar starts its year a day later.
| Born in Seoul | Saju year (Ipchun) | Chinese calendar | Korean lunar calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 3, noon | Horse 丙午 | Horse | Horse |
| Feb 4, 10:00 a.m. | Horse 丙午 | Horse | Horse |
| Feb 4, 10:55 a.m. | Goat 丁未 | Horse | Horse |
| Feb 5, noon | Goat 丁未 | Horse | Horse |
| Feb 6, noon | Goat 丁未 | Goat | Horse |
| Feb 7, noon | Goat 丁未 | Goat | Goat |
Look at the two babies born 55 minutes apart on the morning of February 4. They share a day pillar (甲寅) and even an hour pillar (己巳). But the first has the year and month pillars 丙午 and 辛丑, the second 丁未 and 壬寅: two zodiac animals and two different months of birth, which changes how the whole chart is weighed. Sajucheop's calculator flags births like these, within two hours of a solar term, so you know to double-check the time.
Ipchun, Seollal and Chinese New Year, 2020–2030
Ipchun moves slowly. Each year it arrives about 5 hours 48 minutes later than the year before, because the solar year runs almost a quarter of a day past 365 days, until a leap day pulls it back. Lunar New Year jumps by weeks. Times are Korea time, converted from published almanac tables (Beijing time plus one hour) and rounded to the minute.
| Year | Ipchun (KST) | Saju year from Ipchun | Seollal | Chinese New Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Feb 4, 6:03 p.m. | 庚子 Metal Rat | Jan 25 | Jan 25 |
| 2021 | Feb 3, 11:59 p.m. | 辛丑 Metal Ox | Feb 12 | Feb 12 |
| 2022 | Feb 4, 5:51 a.m. | 壬寅 Water Tiger | Feb 1 | Feb 1 |
| 2023 | Feb 4, 11:42 a.m. | 癸卯 Water Rabbit | Jan 22 | Jan 22 |
| 2024 | Feb 4, 5:27 p.m. | 甲辰 Wood Dragon | Feb 10 | Feb 10 |
| 2025 | Feb 3, 11:10 p.m. | 乙巳 Wood Snake | Jan 29 | Jan 29 |
| 2026 | Feb 4, 5:02 a.m. | 丙午 Fire Horse | Feb 17 | Feb 17 |
| 2027 | Feb 4, 10:46 a.m. | 丁未 Fire Goat | Feb 7 | Feb 6 |
| 2028 | Feb 4, 4:31 p.m. | 戊申 Earth Monkey | Jan 27 | Jan 26 |
| 2029 | Feb 3, 10:20 p.m. | 己酉 Earth Rooster | Feb 13 | Feb 13 |
| 2030 | Feb 4, 4:08 a.m. | 庚戌 Metal Dog | Feb 3 | Feb 3 |
Notice 2021, 2025 and 2029, when Ipchun fell late on February 3 in Korea: a baby born in Seoul at 11:30 p.m. on February 3, 2025 was already a Snake in saju. And compare 2030, when Seollal and Ipchun land a day apart, with 2026, when they are almost two weeks apart. The full tables of all twenty-four terms, with times, are on the 2027 solar terms page and its neighbors.
Who is affected
If you were born between January 1 and Ipchun, your saju year is always the previous calendar year. Beyond that, the people whose animal depends on the rule are those born between Lunar New Year and Ipchun, whichever comes first.
- When Lunar New Year comes first, people born in the gap are the new animal by the lunar calendar but the old one in saju. In 2023, anyone born from January 22 to 11:42 a.m. on February 4 is a Rabbit by the lunar calendar and a Tiger (壬寅) in saju. In 2028, a baby born on January 30 is a Monkey by the lunar calendar and a Goat (丁未) in saju.
- When Ipchun comes first, it is the reverse. In 2026, anyone born from 5:02 a.m. on February 4 to February 16 is a Horse (丙午) in saju but still a Snake by the lunar calendar.
January births carry one more wrinkle: the month. Before Minor Cold (Sohan, 소한, 小寒), around January 5 or 6, you are in the Rat month of the previous saju year; after it, the Ox month. A baby born on January 20, 2027 has the year pillar 丙午 and the Ox month 辛丑, even though the calendar says 2027. Either way, a January chart always carries a winter month branch.
Near the boundary: what to check
- Your exact birth time. Within a couple of hours of Ipchun, the year and month pillars depend on minutes. A hospital record beats family memory.
- Your time zone. Because Ipchun is one global instant, compare it with your birth in your birthplace's local time, as in the table above. On Sajucheop's English calculator you choose your birthplace's UTC offset and the engine does the conversion.
- Daylight saving time. Summer time rarely applies in early February in the Northern Hemisphere, but there have been exceptions, and in the Southern Hemisphere February is summer. Use the offset that was actually in force.
- Solar-time corrections do not move the line. True solar time adjusts the hour pillar and, around midnight, the day pillar. The year and month boundaries are astronomical instants compared with the real moment of birth, so Seoul's −32-minute correction does not shift Ipchun.
Ipchun in Korean life
Ipchun is more than a calculation in Korea. On the day, households traditionally paste spring notes called ipchunchuk (입춘축, 立春祝) on the gate or front door, most often the eight characters 立春大吉 建陽多慶: "great luck as spring begins; much joy as the bright energy rises." You can still see them on traditional houses and temple gates, and some families tape them to apartment doors. Another name for these notes is ipchuncheop (입춘첩, 立春帖), and the cheop in Sajucheop is that same character, 帖.
In everyday talk, though, many Koreans count the zodiac animal from Seollal, and many families keep birthdays by the lunar calendar. That is why the question "am I really the new animal?" comes up every winter. The answer depends on which rule you mean: the lunar rule for the popular zodiac and the holidays, and Ipchun for the chart.
To see both answers for your own birthday, check the zodiac finder for the Lunar New Year boundary, then cast your saju chart, which uses Ipchun and flags births near a solar term. For the year ahead, the 2027 Fire Goat guide covers what 丁未 brings each sign, and parents expecting a baby that winter can read about 2027 Fire Goat babies.
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