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(From Zhu Danxi's *Supplement to Bencao*)

[Collected Explanations] Li Shizhen said: Hongqu (Red Yeast Rice) is not recorded in the *Bencao* (Materia Medica); its method of production emerged in recent times and is also a remarkable technique.
The method is as follows: Take 15 *dou* of white japonica rice, wash it with water, soak it overnight, and steam it into cooked rice. Divide the rice into fifteen portions, add three *jin* of qu mother (starter culture), knead and rub until uniform, then combine them into one mass, and cover it tightly with cloth. If it becomes too hot, remove the cloth and spread it out; when it feels warm, quickly pile it up again and cover it tightly. On the second day at noon, divide it into three piles; after one shichen (two hours), divide it into five piles; after another period, combine them back into one pile; after another shichen, divide it into fifteen piles again; when slightly warm, combine them into one pile again. Repeat this process several times. On the third day, fill a large barrel with newly drawn cold water. Place the qu mass in a bamboo basket to about half or six-tenths full, dip it in the water until wet, then pile it up again, following the previous method for one cycle. On the fourth day, repeat the dipping process. If the qu mass floats half-submerged and half-floating, perform the operation once more according to the previous method and dip again. If it all floats, it is considered complete. Take it out, dry it in the sun, and store it. The rice grains that have not fully penetrated by heat are called "Shenghuang" (Raw Yellow), which can be used for brewing wine.

[Flavor and Toxicity] Sweet in flavor, warm in nature, non-toxic.
Wu Rui said: When used for brewing wine, it becomes acrid and hot, with slight toxicity, and can induce various diseases such as intestinal wind, hemorrhoids, podagra (gout), asthma, and cough with phlegm.

[Indications] Resolves food stagnation, invigorates blood, strengthens the spleen, dries the stomach, and treats dysentery with red and white discharge as well as diarrhea with undigested food particles (Zhenheng).
When used for brewing wine, it breaks blood stasis and enhances the action of medicinal substances, eliminates mountainous miasma, and treats traumatic injuries (Wu Rui). It treats qi and blood pain in women, as well as lochia retention postpartum; grinding it and taking it with wine yields excellent results (Shizhen).

[Elucidation] Li Shizhen said: When food and drink enter the stomach, they are steamed and steamed by the damp-heat of the middle jiao. The essence flows forth and transforms into red over time, distributing throughout the zang-fu organs and meridians, becoming Ying Blood (Nutritive Blood). This is the subtle wonder of natural creation. In making Hongqu, white rice accepts damp-heat and stifling vapor, transforming into red, thus achieving its true color, which remains unchanged even over long periods. This is humanity peering into the ingenuity of creation. Therefore, Hongqu possesses the merit of regulating the spleen, stomach, and Ying Blood, adhering to the principle of "seeking resonance through similar energies."

[Attached Prescriptions] Four new prescriptions.
Damp-heat diarrhea and dysentery: Danxi Qingliu Wan: Use Liuyi San (Six-to-One Powder), add five qian of stir-fried Hongqu, grind into powder, mix with steamed biscuit dough to form pills the size of wutong seeds. Take 50-70 pills each time, washed down with plain boiled water, three times a day. (*Danxi Xinfa*).
Pediatric frequent vomiting and regurgitation, inability to take milk or food, heat in the palms and soles: Use three and a half qian of aged Hongqu, one and a half qian of Atractylodis Rhizoma (Baizhu) stir-fried with bran, one qian of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Gancao) roasted. Grind into powder. Take half a qian each time, washed down with decoction of dates and rice soup. (*Jingji*).
Pediatric head sores: Caused by injury allowing dampness and water to enter, generating toxins with continuous purulent discharge: Chew Hongqu and apply it topically to the lesion; very effective. (*Baiyi Xuanfang*).
Pain in the heart and abdomen: Hongqu, Cyperi Rhizoma (Xiangfu), and Frankincense (Ruxiang) in equal parts, ground into powder, taken with wine. (*Zhaixuan Fang*)