Chapter II · The Implements · Section 5: At a contemporary tea table — reading “规一曰模一曰棬以铁制之或圆或方或花”

Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

Thesis

“规一曰模一曰棬以铁制之或圆或方或花” still has operational value at a contemporary tea table, provided Tang conditions are not silently universalised.

Text

“The gui mold, also called mo or quan, is made of iron, in round, square, or floral shapes.”

Context

规：压饼的模具，又叫模、棬（quān）。以铁制成，有圆形、方形、花形。

Evidence

• Collation: 各本一致。吴觉农注：唐代饼茶以"规"定型，圆者为"月团"，方者为"小方"，为后世团茶（龙凤团茶）之先声。
• Existing readings: 吴觉农指出"规"即压茶模具：唐饼、宋团、明清砖沱，皆由此演化；"或圆或方或花"说明唐代饼茶形态已多样，不只是圆饼一种。

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 II · The Implements, section 5; the original is in the public domain.

As a new reader, I first took “规一曰模一曰棬以铁制之或圆或方或花” as a conclusion. Reading the annotation to section 5 again, it is clearly a judgment with conditions attached.

Textually, 各本一致。吴觉农注：唐代饼茶以"规"定型，圆者为"月团"，方者为"小方"，为后世团茶（龙凤团茶）之先声。. The point is that “the original” is not a single stable text; name the edition before making a strong claim.

The vessel is not background. 规：压饼的模具，又叫模、棬（quān）。以铁制成，有圆形、方形、花形。 The same leaf in a different bowl, grinder or sieve changes aroma and texture; vessel and tea are defined together.