Textual research on Gutian as place where red yeast rice originated / 中草药

China is regarded as the birthplace of red yeast rice (RYR). However, various opinions concerning the place where RYR originated and time when RYR invented exist. Upon newly-discovered documented files, current opinion saying "RYR was invented before Tang Dynasty" was proven to be invalid. Meanwhile, RYR in Gutian county Fujian province was verified to be manufactured before 28th year of Kaiyuan in the Tang Dynasty (AD 740) with rich historical data. Based on the fact dating back to the farthest times among those records reported nowadays, a conclusion was accordingly deduced that Gutian was the birthplace of RYR.