
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Thesis
Read through modern tea science, “呜呼天育万物皆有至妙人之所工但猎浅易所庇者屋” is not a lab result but a set of variables: cultivar, soil, light and plucking standard.
Text
“Alas! Heaven nurtures all things, and each has its utmost subtlety. Yet what men labor at is only the shallow and easy. They dwell in houses, and houses are refined to the utmost; they wear garments, and garments are refined to the utmost; they eat and drink, and food and wine are refined to the utmost.”
Context
呜呼:感叹。至妙:极致的精妙。猎浅易:只求浅薄容易的。庇:遮蔽、居住。著:穿着。
Evidence
- Collation: 此句为六之饮的感叹之辞,各本一致,为《茶经》著名的"精行俭德"序曲。
- Existing readings: 吴觉农评此句为陆羽的"文化宣言":屋、衣、食、酒皆穷极精妙,唯有饮茶之道粗疏——陆羽由此引出茶道同样值得精研,为全书立下"茶亦当精"的宏愿。
Analysis
Modern tea science would split “呜呼天育万物皆有至妙人之所工但猎浅易所庇者屋” into cultivar, soil, light and plucking variables. 吴觉农评此句为陆羽的"文化宣言":屋、衣、食、酒皆穷极精妙,唯有饮茶之道粗疏——陆羽由此引出茶道同样值得精研,为全书立下"茶亦当精"的宏愿。 They remain testable, but only with their conditions attached.
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 4; the original is in the public domain.
Experience should be explained, not mystified.