Chapter VI · The Drinking · Section 1: Textual layers — reading “翼而飞毛而走呿而言——此三者俱生于天地间饮啄”

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Thesis

Section 1 is not really about “翼而飞毛而走呿而言——此三者俱生于天地间饮啄”; it is about how Lu Yu turns tea from a local product into an object of argument.

Text

“Winged creatures fly, furred creatures run, and those with mouths speak — all three dwell between heaven and earth and live by drinking and eating. How far-reaching is the meaning of drinking!”

Context

呿（qū）：张口。鸟要飞、兽要跑、人要说话，都靠吃喝活着，可见"饮"的意义深远。

Evidence

• Collation: “呿而言"之"呿”，各本作"呿"（张口貌），有校本作"趋"或"跄"，属形近之误的校勘议题，今从通行本。
• Existing readings: 吴觉农指出：此句以"鸟飞兽走人言"起兴，将"饮"提到"生之大义"的高度，是为茶立论的宏大开场——饮不只是解渴，而是生命延续的根本。

Analysis

Formally, the section gives a judgment, adds material detail, then returns to human practice. 呿（qū）：张口。鸟要飞、兽要跑、人要说话，都靠吃喝活着，可见"饮"的意义深远。 That is why the Classic of Tea reads as an argued book rather than a miscellany.

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 VI · The Drinking, section 1; the original is in the public domain.

As a new reader, I first took “翼而飞毛而走呿而言——此三者俱生于天地间饮啄” as a conclusion. Reading the annotation to section 1 again, it is clearly a judgment with conditions attached.

A maker reads “翼而飞毛而走呿而言——此三者俱生于天地间饮啄” through weather and soil first. 呿（qū）：张口。鸟要飞、兽要跑、人要说话，都靠吃喝活着，可见"饮"的意义深远。 That is not far from how we judge a mountain and a picking window today.

The vessel is not background. 呿（qū）：张口。鸟要飞、兽要跑、人要说话，都靠吃喝活着，可见"饮"的意义深远。 The same leaf in a different bowl, grinder or sieve changes aroma and texture; vessel and tea are defined together.