Classical attributes
- Solar position: longitude 300°
- Date range: January 19-21
- Season: winter (late winter)
- Type: 氣 — Mid-term — within month
- Month branch: 丑 (Ox)
Climatic register
The coldest period of the year — frost and ice at sustained maximum. Beyond this, the year turns toward the wood-element resurrection of spring; energy stirs beneath the frozen surface.
Hidden stems of the 丑 month branch
The 丑 earthly branch holds these heavenly stems internally — read in BaZi as the “hidden essence” of the month pillar:
- 己 (Yin Earth, primary)
- 癸 (Yin Water, residual)
- 辛 (Yin Metal, residual)
BaZi relevance
大寒 is the mid-term within the 丑 month pillar — the final solar term before 立春 closes the cycle. Charts cast around 大寒 carry the deepest cold-on-earth integration of the year. The 丑 storehouse holds the maturing water and the residual metal; for BaZi readers, 大寒 charts often need careful reading of the chart's heat-source potential, since the lack of warmth at this period is structural.
QMDJ (Qi Men Dun Jia) relevance
Late-winter yang dun period; chart configurations carry the eastward charge of dun 3, the visibility amplification of dun 9, and the authoritative grounding of dun 6 in succession. In the QMDJ system, 大寒 falls within the 陽遁 (yang dun, forward-rotating expansion) half-year. The three thirds of this solar term map to 陽遁3局 (upper), 陽遁9局 (middle), and 陽遁6局 (lower) respectively. QMDJ consultations made during 大寒 carry the dun-period register stacked on top of the solar-term's seasonal energy.
For chart-aware QMDJ reading of a specific consultation made during 大寒, see the 18 Dun Periods reference for the relevant dun-period pages, or book a QMDJ forecasting consultation.
Observed register for 大寒 births
大寒 carries the register of peak-difficulty endured — the coldest, most-demanding period that reveals deep character. Born around 大寒 often carries a strong register of resilience under sustained challenge and the patience to know that the year's hardest moment is also closest to the spring that follows.
Why generic Major Cold interpretation fails
The solar term is one structural layer of a BaZi chart, not the whole chart. The actual reading for someone born around 大寒 depends on the day pillar (the Day Master), the year and hour pillars, the chart's elemental balance, and the upcoming luck pillars. Generic per-solar-term descriptions can name the foundational seasonal register, but they cannot tell you what your specific chart says. Master Sean Chan’s BaZi consultation reads the full chart against your specific question.