Chinese Materia Dietetica, Ming: Vinegar

Illustration from Shiwu bencao (Materia dietetica), a dietetic herbal in four volumes dating from the Ming period (1368-1644). The identity of the author and artists is unknown. It contains entries on over 300 medicinal substances and is illustrated by almost 500 paintings in colour. This illustration, headed jiangshui (a term for vinegar), depicts the process of vinegar making. Bencao mengquan (Introduction to the Pharmacopoeia) by Chen Jiamo, also published in the Ming period, explains: 'Jiang means cu (vinegar). Millet is cooked and added to cold water, then left to macerate for 5-6 days. It has a vinegary flavour. It produces a white sediment. In colour, it resembles syrup (jiang); hence the name. The text states: Vinegar (jiangshui) is sweet and acid in sapor, slightly warming in thermostatic character, and non-poisonous. It has the medicinal properties of regulating the centre and stimulating the appetite, relieving food retention (sushi), eliminating distress and arresting vomiting, etc. It can be used to treat conditions such as huoluan (cholera and analogous illnesses, diarrhoea and somnolence. There is an alimentary prohibition on the consumption of iced vinegar by pregnant women.