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(Remaltose): [It] can relieve urgency and tonify deficiency. The Spleen relies on sweet and warm properties to establish its function. It nourishes Metal (Lung) to treat cough; the Lung receives moistening and lubrication for nourishment and cultivation. (To promote blood circulation and stop epistaxis, it must be charred; to dissolve phlegm and remove throat obstruction, it should be held in the mouth to melt.) Remaltose is made from glutinous rice and malt. Its flavor is sweet, nature is warm. Relieving urgency and tonifying deficiency, moistening the Lung and stopping thirst are its strengths. However, excessive consumption aids damp-heat, damages Kidney Qi, causes worms, and damages teeth, which happens frequently. Therefore, everything has both advantages and disadvantages.

Black Soybean: Invigorates blood and disperses wind. Its color is black and shape resembles the kidney, thus entering the Kidney channel. Benefits Yin and promotes urination. Eliminates irritability and detoxifies; nature is sweet and neutral. (Black soybean's flavor is sweet, nature is neutral; it is the grain of the Kidney. Chen Cangqi said: Black soybeans used raw have a neutral nature; roasted they become hot; boiled they become cold; made into fermented beans they become cold. This is also due to the differences in material properties. Examining its ability to enter the Kidney, benefiting Yin and promoting urination is its fundamental function. When Yin-blood is sufficient, movement is not stagnant, thus wind can be eliminated. As for the function of detoxification, it is also highly valued in ancient and modern formularies.)

Fermented Soybean (Douchi): Nature and flavor are sweet and bitter, slightly warm. Acts on the Lung and Stomach channels. Mainly treats wind-cold and epidemic febrile diseases, relying specifically on dispersing and venting. It can induce sweating to release the muscle layer, and can induce vomiting to expel pathogens and transform putrefaction. (Douchi is made by steaming and smoking black soybeans. Although most materia medica state its nature is cold, since it has been steamed and smoked, its flavor changes from sweet to bitter, so how could its nature be cold? It enters the Lung and Stomach, travels through the Upper Jiao, and possesses ascending and dispersing power. Therefore, for all types of seasonal warm diseases, warm malaria, etc., where latent pathogens exist and exterior-interior stagnation persists, it can be used. This is what is meant by "those on the exterior are released by sweating, those above are expelled by emesis." One must know that Douchi can transform stale and putrid Qi in the chest, thus its power to release the exterior and vent the interior is self-evident.)

Soybean Sprout (Doujuan): Flavor is sweet and neutral. Detoxifies, disperses wind-dampness, relaxes sinews and relieves spasms, drives out water-dampness pathogens. (Doujuan is produced by soaking black soybeans in water until they sprout. Its nature, flavor, and functions are largely similar to black soybeans. However, because it sprouts after soaking in water, it possesses a generating and ascending Qi, thus it can also release the exterior. Black soybeans originally enter the Kidney; the Kidney governs water. By soaking in water to make them sprout, it is suitable for treating water-dampness pathogens in the upper/lower and exterior/interior without omission. As for dispersing wind and detoxifying, this is the inherent nature of beans; the ability to relax sinews is also due to being constrained by water-dampness.)