立夏 : Ipha, Barley Field / Onset of Summer

입하 관련 신문기사와 그림

An article on Ipha in the Kyunghyang Shinmun, dated May 5, 1957	"Landscape of Gogu" by Lee Eok-yeong

The season known as "Ipha" (立夏) marks the onset of summer. The day is also called "Maeknyang" (麥凉), or "Maekchu" (麥秋), which means "the cool weather around the time that barley ripens," as well as "Maengha" (孟夏), "Choha" (初夏), "Gwoeha" (槐夏), or "Yuha" (維夏), all of which mean "early summer." Ipha is the seventh of the twenty-four seasonal sub-divisions, or solar terms, of the lunar calendar, and comes between "Gogu" (穀雨) and "Soman" (小滿). It falls around May 6 of the solar calendar or in April of the lunar calendar, when the sun reaches 45° longitude.

여름풍경과 보리, 서산 보리수확 이미지

Summer Landscape in Gangwon-do	Barley in Jeju-do	Barley Harvest in Seosan City, Chungcheongnam-do

Come "Ipha," the spring recedes completely. The mountains and fields turn green, and the croaking of frogs can be heard. Earthworms wiggle in the grass, and Korean melon flowers begin to bloom in the fields. In the seedbeds, rice seeds sprout robustly while the ears of barley are ready to come out. In homes, wives busy themselves with the breeding of silkworms. In the rice paddies and fields, farmers are busy getting rid of insects and weeds. 

Back in the olden days when native rice varieties were planted around the time of "Ipha," seeds used to be blown away by the wind. To prevent this, farmers drained their paddies of water and said: "The Ipha wind blows seeds to the corners of the earth." To express the popular belief that a winter heavy with snow would bring a good cotton harvest, Korean farmers used to say, "A furry animal day during Ipha will bring a good cotton harvest."

써레질 이미지

Harrowing Rice Paddies in Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do

With the approach of "Ipha," farmers began to plant rice seeds. To express the "bringing out of the harrows to the fields," farmers would say: "Along the Ipha water comes out a harrow." In the old days when native varieties of rice were planted, water had to be retained for one month, which led to a great loss of fertilizers or bad farming practices/a bad harvest: "Holding too much water during Ipha will being you nothing, even if you do your plowing smeared with dog feces."