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Buckwheat: Sweet in taste, cold in nature. Enters the Foot-Taiyin (Spleen) and Foot-Yangming (Stomach) meridians. Descends Qi and widens the intestines. Eliminates accumulated stagnation, applies externally to treat ulcerated smallpox, resolves diarrhea and dysentery, stops turbid leukorrhea. Combined with Dahuang (Rhei Radix et Rhizoma), it unblocks accumulated blood. Combined with Xiaohuixiang (Foeniculi Fructus), it treats hernia. Mixed with sand sugar water, it treats Jin Kou Li Ji (dysentery with inability to eat). Mixed with egg white, it treats turbid urine and leukorrhea. Eaten together with Dancai (Mytilus edulis), it treats Luoli (scrofula). Stir-fried before use. Excessive consumption agitates wind. Contraindicated for those with Spleen-Stomach deficiency-cold. Consuming it with tofu, chicken, pork, mutton, or yellow croaker causes Wind-Heat disease and leads to loss of eyebrows and beard.

Glutinous Rice: Sweet in taste, warm in nature. Enters the Hand-Taiyin (Lung) and Foot-Taiyin (Spleen) meridians. Tonifies the Spleen and Stomach, consolidates Lung Qi, firms the stool, reduces urination, arrests spontaneous sweating, promotes eruption of smallpox. Resolves toxicity of Yuan Qing (Mylabris) and Ban Mao (Mylabris). Obtained with Shichangpu (Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma) and Muli powder, it treats excessive urination or strangury resembling fat paste. Obtained with Huangbo (Phellodendri Cortex) and Chuanxiong (Chuanxiong Rhizoma), it treats restless fetus and discharge of yellow fluid. Paired with Lianzi (Nelumbinis Semen) and ink juice, it treats hematemesis due to mental overexertion. Paired with Shanyao (Dioscoreae Rhizoma) and taken with water, it treats diarrhea and dysentery. Cooked inside a pig’s stomach, it treats consumptive disease. Ground with clear water and taken, it treats incessant vomiting. Stir-fried until cooked, it does not cause stagnation. Boiled into porridge, it resolves smallpox toxin. Excessive consumption dulls the five Zang organs, relaxes sinews and bones, induces wind-pathogens, and generates damp-heat. Those with existing phlegm-heat or wind-damp conditions, and those with Spleen disease unable to transform and transport, are most prone to illness and accumulation upon consumption. Patients and children should strictly avoid it.

Mi Tang (Rice Wash Water): Sweet in taste, cool in nature. Stops thirst and restlessness, treats cholera, resolves toxicity. For indigestion after eating duck meat, drinking it immediately aids digestion.

Jing Mi (Common Rice): Sweet in taste, neutral in nature. Receives the harmonious Qi of Heaven and Earth, sharing the merit of creation and generation. Harmonizes the five Zang organs, unblocks blood vessels, strengthens sinews and bones, nourishes muscles. Jingmi harvested late and white in color receives more Metal Qi, is cold in nature, enters the Lung meridian, clears heat and removes irritability, relieves thirst, cools blood, and promotes urination; early Jingmi flour can be dusted on newborns with skin lesions. Jingmi flour can be dusted on cases of incessant spontaneous sweating. Frequently chewing white rice and applying it to children's sweet sores at bedtime. Jingmi has three harvests: early, middle, and late. Northern Jingmi is cool, Southern Jingmi is warm. Red Jingmi is hot, White Jingmi is cool. New Jingmi is hot, Aged Jingmi is cool. People who habitually eat raw rice may develop Mi Jia (rice mass/accumulation) over time, treated with Jisi Bai (Galli Stercus Album). Do not consume with Can'er (Xanthii Fructus), as it causes sudden heart pain. Immediately take ash from burned warehouse rice mixed with honey water; otherwise, death ensues.