Chapter II · The Implements · Section 5: Words and things — reading “规一曰模一曰棬以铁制之或圆或方或花”

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Thesis

The key words in “规一曰模一曰棬以铁制之或圆或方或花” are not ornament. They mark where Tang tea names, vessels and provenance meet.

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

The annotation matters less as philology than as a distinction between name and thing. 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。 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 II · The Implements, section 5; the original is in the public domain.

Water and fire magnify the difference. The same leaf at a higher temperature or a longer steep changes the sweet-bitter balance; the text only becomes operational at the brewing stage.

Modern tea science would split the sentence into cultivar, soil, light and plucking variables. 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。 The variables remain useful, but none of them alone explains the cup.

Storage adds another variable: moisture and temperature. 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。 Old and young tea do not share one shelf life, so “the older the better” is not a rule.