A Critical Review of Viewpoints on the Time of the Origin of Hongqu (Red Yeast Rice)

Through a summary of the results of past research on the time of the origin of hongqu (红曲, red yeast rice), a critical review is made of multiple pieces of published evidence supporting the various viewpoints that hongqu originated from the Han, Wei, Jin, Tang, or Song dynasties. Based on a newly discovered textual comment by Kong Guangtao 孔广陶 (1832–1890) that rectified the mistake of mis-quoting “red wheat powder in Guazhou” (Guazhou hongzhi 瓜州红䵂) as “red yeast rice in Guazhou” (Guazhou hongqu 瓜州红麯) in Entry into Learning (Chuxue ji 初学记), a conclusion can be drawn that the evidence for a Han dynasty origin that has dominated for nearly forty years is not well-grounded, and proposes that Chinese hongqu originated in the Tang dynasty (618–907).