January is the coldest month in a year and Sohan and Taehan which are the last of the 24 divisions of the year in the lunar calendar.
Sohan is solar January 6 or 7 which means the beginning of cold winter. The people say that Taehan is the coldest day of the year, but cold on Sohan is as bitter as on Taehan.
Taehan is solar January 20 or 21.
The Korean people created diligent and diverse living customs that coincide with the seasonal features in January and have inherited them ever since.
Even in January when there were severe cold days of Sohan and Taehan, the Korean people, who regarded farming as a mainstay, made such full preparations for farming as making straw ropes and baskets indoors and composting. After Taehan they repaired and made tidy everything indoors and outdoors in order to greet the lunar New Year’s Day in clean environment and women prepared materials for foods.
During the period the Korean people also played diverse folk games like yut-game, seesawing, kite-flying and sleighing.
