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Alcoholic drinks from Northern China

Quick white-mash and clear wines of chapter 66白醪酒

A group of short-ferment wines in chapter 66 of the 6th-century Qimin Yaoshu, one quoted from the Shijing. The steps shown are the white-mash wine (白醪酒), in which square qu soaks for two nights, rice goes in three times, the liquid is cleared and one last lot of rice is added. It is drinkable in four or five days.

Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks4 days – 5 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe amounts of the white-mash wine (作白醪酒法). The first addition is meant to give 7 dou of liquid; there are three additions, then 1 dou more after the wine is cleared.
Square qu (方麴), chopped fine5 jin[qmys-ws][qmys-siku]
Flowing water3 dou 5 sheng[qmys-ws][qmys-siku]
Rice, cooked and cooled4 dou per addition, then 1 dou[qmys-ws][qmys-siku]
Starterkoji/qu/mold-starter (square qu)

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 days – 5 days

Start
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Close-up: water moving into a grain

What changes: Chopped square qu soaks in flowing water for two nights

Step 1 of 4
Soak the chopped qu for two nights
Time
Soaked two nights
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: qu liquid.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

A group of short-ferment wines in chapter 66 of the 6th-century Qimin Yaoshu, one quoted from the Shijing. The steps shown are the white-mash wine (白醪酒), in which square qu soaks for two nights, rice goes in three times, the liquid is cleared and one last lot of rice is added. It is drinkable in four or five days. Made in 4 steps over 4 days – 5 days. The longest step, add a last lot of rice and seal until it is drinkable, takes 4–5 days (Jia Sixie 2026).

Key numbers
Main step4–5 daysReported[qmys-ws][qmys-siku]Add a last lot of rice and seal until it is drinkable

What makes this one different

These wines take days, not weeks. Small amounts of square qu and a few additions give a sweet, lightly fermented wine that is drunk at once, unlike the long-fed spring and autumn wines of the same chapter.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Shijing white mash (《食經》白醪酒)1 dan of raw glutinous millet and 2 jin of square qu soaked in spring water and covered for two nights until the qu floats; 3 dou of cooked grain added; good after 5 days, "as sweet as milk". The Wikisource text says it is not made after the middle of the 9th month; the Siku text says it can be.
  • Winter rice bright wine (冬米明酒)In the 9th month, 1 dou of fine rice is pounded, scalded with 1 dan of boiling water and stirred with 1 jin of qu powder; after 3 days it is very sour. Cooked rice is added until the smell stings the nose, then 15 jin of square qu, 3 dou of rice and 4 dou of water.
  • Summer rice bright wine (夏米明酒)1 dan of glutinous millet and 3 jin of qu soaked in 3 dou of water; three additions of 3 dou of cooked grain, then cleared and 1 dou more added; drinkable after two nights.
  • He Gong of Langling's summer sealed clear wine (朗陵何公夏封清酒)Qu chopped to the size of sparrows' heads lines the jar bottom; 1 dou of millet goes in layered with 5 sheng of water; mud-sealed in the sun, it is ripe in 7 days.
  • Summer cockcrow wine (作夏雞鳴酒法)Glutinous millet cooked to a gruel, 2 jin of pounded qu and 5 dou of water, sealed; made one day and ripe by cockcrow the next morning. The editions differ on the millet (2 dou or 2 sheng).

Safety

A 2025 review of Chinese rice wine names ethyl carbamate, a potential carcinogen that forms from ethanol and nitrogen compounds during fermentation and storage, and biogenic amines as its main safety concerns; it speaks of rice wine in general, not of this recipe.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Qimin Yaoshu chapter 66 (笨麴餅酒), compiled by Jia Sixie in the 6th century. One of these recipes is quoted from the Shijing (食經). Wikipedia dates the book to 544 CE on one account and to 533–544 CE on another.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
Temperature, salt and pH
The 6th-century Qimin Yaoshu gives warmth only in words, and no study we found has measured this recipe.
  1. [qmys-ws] Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), juan 7, ch. 66 笨麴餅酒, 作白醪酒法, 冬米明酒法, 夏米明酒法, 朗陵何公夏封清酒法 and 作夏雞鳴酒法; transcription on Chinese Wikisource (齊民要術/卷第七), read 2026-10archive
  2. [qmys-siku] Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu, Siku quanshu edition, juan 7, transcription on Chinese Wikisource (齊民要術 (四庫全書本)/卷07), read 2026-10archive
  3. [qmys-wp] Wikipedia, Qimin Yaoshu (dates the book to 544 CE on one account and to 533–544 CE on another)wiki
  4. [jiuqu-wp] Wikipedia, Jiuqu (qu as a starter that carries moulds, yeasts and bacteria; Aspergillus and Rhizopus its main functional moulds)wiki
  5. [peng2025] Peng B. et al. 2025, Rice Wine Fermentation - Unveiling Key Factors Shaping Quality, Flavor, and Technological Evolution, Foods 14(14), 2544paper