The Classic of Tea · Chapter IX · The Omissions: Full Text

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Full text

[1] “As for the making tools: if at early spring, during the cold-food days, one gathers with many hands in a wild temple or mountain garden, steaming and pounding on the spot, then drying over fire — the seven implements can all be dispensed with.”

[2] “But in towns and noble households, if one of the twenty-four vessels is missing, the tea ceremony is spoiled.”

Note

This chapter has 2 sections. The English text above is a working translation for discussion; the Chinese original is in the public domain. Name the edition when quoting, since Chapter One and several other chapters contain variants.

Source: Wikisource

Pinning the full text is the right move. Read the plain text first, then the annotation; do not let a second-hand explanation replace the source. This chapter has 2 sections; make a card for each.

One textual warning: both the old annotation to 其字 and the 叶/蕊/茎/蒂 phrase have variants. Name the Baichuan Xuehai or Siku edition, or a collation problem will look like a doctrinal one.

From the making side, the most neglected line is “picked out of season, made without care”. The chapter is not only about the plant; it puts quality responsibility on people, and that still holds.

Modern tea science can add mechanisms for 烂石, 砾壤 and 黄土: acidity, drainage, mycorrhizal association. But adding a mechanism does not mean Lu Yu knew it; keep experience and explanation distinct.