Chapter VIII · The Producing Regions · Section 4: At a contemporary tea table — reading “浙东以越州上明州婺州次台州下”

Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Thesis

“浙东以越州上明州婺州次台州下” still has operational value at a contemporary tea table, provided Tang conditions are not silently universalised.

Text

“In Zhedong Circuit, Yuezhou is best, Mingzhou and Wuzhou next, and Taizhou lower.”

Context

浙东道：今浙江东部。越州（绍兴）为上。

Evidence

• Collation: 各本一致。"越州"即今绍兴，唐代越窑青瓷产地，亦产名茶。
• Existing readings: 吴觉农指出浙东越州（绍兴）与浙西湖州（顾渚）南北相望，同为唐代贡茶重镇；越州日铸茶在宋代更是名噪一时，印证了陆羽"越州上"的预见。

Analysis

To repeat this section today is not to copy a Tang utensil list. It is to keep its order of judgment: leaf first, then water and fire, then the table.

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 4; the original is in the public domain.

Storage adds another variable: moisture and temperature. 各本一致。"越州"即今绍兴，唐代越窑青瓷产地，亦产名茶。 Old and young tea do not share one shelf life, so “the older the better” is not a rule.

As a new reader, I first took “浙东以越州上明州婺州次台州下” as a conclusion. Reading the annotation to section 4 again, it is clearly a judgment with conditions attached.

Textually, 各本一致。"越州"即今绍兴，唐代越窑青瓷产地，亦产名茶。. The point is that “the original” is not a single stable text; name the edition before making a strong claim.