大寒
Dà Hán · Major Cold
Each year lands around 1/20 in the Gregorian calendar (the exact date shifts slightly year to year).
Three Hou — five days each
- Hens begin to brood
- Birds of prey become fiercest
- Water and ponds freeze through their depths
The 'three hou' (三候) is the traditional five-day-each observation pattern within a single solar term — fifteen days in all.
What this term marks
Da-Han (Major Cold). The last of the twenty-four terms. Cold at its extreme — and 'when a thing reaches its extreme, it reverses'. After Da-Han comes Li-Chun, and the cycle begins again.
Folklore & farming
The household 'year-end' work (preparing for Lunar New Year) clusters around Da-Han — house-cleaning, stocking up, hanging spring couplets. The full weight of year's-end ritual.
What it means in a BaZi chart
End of Chou month — the year-pillar is about to turn over. Masters note the stretch between Da-Han and Li-Chun as the year's most sensitive — the chart's annual frame is in transition.
Guidance, not prophecy. For reflection, not decision.