
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Thesis
The key words in “淮南以光州上义阳郡舒州次寿州下蕲州黄州又下” are not ornament. They mark where Tang tea names, vessels and provenance meet.
Text
“In Huainan Circuit, Guangzhou is best, Yiyang and Shuzhou next, Shouzhou lower, and Qizhou and Huangzhou lowest.”
Context
淮南道:今河南南部与安徽一带。光州(今潢川)为上。
Evidence
- Collation: 各本一致。"光州"治今河南潢川,唐代淮南名茶产地。
- Existing readings: 吴觉农指出:淮南道所辖即今豫南皖北茶区,光州(潢川)一带至今仍产信阳毛尖等名茶——陆羽千年前的茶区评定,与今日格局大体相合。
Analysis
The annotation matters less as philology than as a distinction between name and thing. 各本一致。"光州"治今河南潢川,唐代淮南名茶产地。 Once names settle, picking, grading and trade can share a language.
Conclusion
The section does not give a universal rule. It demonstrates a method: read the text, the annotation and the Tang context together before making a modern claim.
Source: The Classic of Tea, Chapter VIII · The Producing Regions, section 2; the original is in the public domain.
Ask what period this person lived in.