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Red Adzuki Bean (Vigna angularis)

Taste: Sweet, sour. Nature: Neutral. Toxicity: Non-toxic. Indications: Mainly treats water retention and edema, discharges pus and blood from carbuncles and swellings, alleviates alternating chills and fever, clears heat in the middle jiao, relieves polydipsia (excessive thirst), stops diarrhea, promotes urination, treats vomiting and rebellious qi, sudden hernia, and abdominal distension.

Tao Hongjing states: Soybeans and adzuki beans were originally classified under the same category, similar to the relationship between scallions and wild garlic. When soybeans are sprouted and then dried, they are called "Huangjuan" (Yellow Sprouts). They also require roasting for use and are needed for dietary nourishment. Boiled soybeans have a remarkable effect on edema caused by warm toxins. There is also white soybean, which is not used in medicine. The nature of adzuki beans can drain body fluids; long-term consumption leads to dryness and roughness of the body. The *Tang Bencao* annotation states: The *Bie Lu* records that the leaf of the bean is named "Huo," which stops frequent urination and removes irritability and heat. Current research indicates: Chen Cangqi's *Bencao Shiyi* records that red adzuki beans boiled with the white bark of mulberry roots treat swelling caused by dampness bi-syndrome. Adzuki beans boiled with Tongsao (Prionotis root) promote downward movement of qi infinitely, named "Tuoqi Pill." Donkeys become lighter on their feet after eating them. The *Shu Bencao* annotation states: For alcohol-induced heat, drinking the juice cures it immediately. The *Yaoxing Lun* records: Red adzuki bean, as an assistant herb, tastes sweet. It can eliminate heat-toxin carbuncles and swellings, dissipate stagnant evil blood, relieve irritability and fullness, treat edema, and skin/muscle distension. Crushed and applied thinly to carbuncles, it treats acute yellow rot sores in children. Extracting the juice enhances appetite. Powder mixed with egg white applied to healing heat-toxin carbuncles promotes qi circulation and strengthens the spleen and stomach. Chen Shiliang states: Red adzuki bean is slightly cold. It condenses qi and moves wind, extracting pathogens from muscles. Long-term consumption makes one thin, strengthens bones and tendons, and treats water qi disorders. It resolves the heat toxin of wheat. Ri Hua Zi states: Red adzuki bean powder treats irritability, resolves heat toxins, discharges pus, tonifies blood vessels, and excellently resolves sticky oil stains. Leaves eaten brighten the eyes.

The *Tu Jing* states: Red adzuki beans were previously listed with soybeans; Su Gong separated them. Currently, they are widely planted in the Jianghuai region. They treat water qi disorders. For Hong Kong Foot (Gouty Arthritis/Podagra): Used when most urgent. Method: Take five he of these beans, one head of garlic, one fen of ginger, all crushed; one strip of Phellodendron root (Shanglu), sliced; boil together until beans are soft. When the decoction is ready, consume it on an empty stomach at a moderate temperature, sipping slowly until finished. Swelling subsides immediately, then stop. Wei Zhou's *Duxing Fang* treats edema starting from the feet entering the abdomen, which is fatal. Also uses one dou of red adzuki beans, boiled until very soft, taking four or five sheng of juice, warm compresses below the knees. If it has entered the abdomen, Li Jiang's *Bingbu Shouji Fang* also records this method, claiming efficacy. Once, someone suffered from Hong Kong Foot; using these beans made into a bag placed under the feet, rolling and treading morning and evening, the disease was cured. It also treats erysipelas (Dan Du). The *Duanju Fang* uses red adzuki bean powder mixed with egg white to dissipate it. For generalized cases, apply broadly as above. Various swelling toxins about to become abscesses are effectively treated by mixing with water and applying.

The *Shiliao* states: Boiled thoroughly with carp, it greatly treats Hong Kong Foot and massive abdominal edema. Other treatments are detailed in the Carp section. It disperses qi and removes joint irritability and heat. It opens the heart orifices and stops frequent urination. Both green and red varieties are edible. After acute dysentery, if one feels full and cannot eat, boiling and consuming one meal cures it. The *Qianjin Fang*: Thirty-seven adzuki beans, burned to ash, sifted, taken in one dose with cold water is best. The *Zhouhou Fang*: Prevents warm diseases. Take adzuki beans, store in a new cloth bag, place in a well, remove after three days. The whole family consumes them: males ten beans, females twenty beans. Another prescription: Treats intestinal hemorrhoids with constant blood in stool. One sheng of adzuki beans, five sheng of vinegar, boil beans until cooked, remove and dry, return to vinegar until liquid is exhausted, grind to powder, take one cun bi with wine, three times daily. Another prescription: Sudden bleeding from the tongue like needle holes. One sheng of adzuki beans, crushed, mixed with three sheng of water, stirred to extract juice and drink. Another prescription: Postpartum chest oppression and eye issues. Red adzuki bean ground to powder, taken with east-flowing water, one cun bi. Repeat if not cured. Mei Shi Fang: Treats lower bleeding due to heat toxin or triggering by hot foods. Use one cun bi. Another prescription: Treats persistent breast swelling in women. Equal parts adzuki bean and Caoshu (Aconitum carmichaelii side root), ground to powder, mixed with vinegar and applied. Eating bean paste with fish causes mouth sores.

The *Shiyi Xinjing*: Manages foot swelling turning upward with warmth. Another prescription: Treats frequent urination. One jin of bean leaves, boiled in fermented soybean juice, mixed to make soup, or porridge is good. The *Guangli Fang*: Treats pediatric fire erysipelas burning like fire around the waist, damaging people, for emergency rescue. Crush red adzuki bean powder, mix with egg white and apply, change when dry. The *Bixiao Fang*: Treats food-water dysentery. One he of adzuki beans, mixed with three liang of wax, applied with vinegar also dissipates. The *Chanbao* prescription for difficult labor: Swallow seven raw red adzuki beans to deliver; if female, fourteen beans are better. The *Chanshu* states: Promotes lactation. Boiling... Yan Yi states: Red adzuki bean promotes urination when eaten; long-term use weakens the person, causing darkening, thinning, and dryness. People in Guanxi, Hebei, Jingdong, and Jinxī eat it frequently. Flowers treat lingering alcohol intoxication and thirst diseases.