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Thesis
Section 8 is not really about “晋王濛好茶人至辄命饮之士大夫皆患之每欲往候必”; it is about how Lu Yu turns tea from a local product into an object of argument.
Text
“Wang Meng of Jin loved tea, and pressed it on every visitor; the officials dreaded it, and whenever they meant to call they would say, ‘Today we must suffer the water-calamity.’”
Context
王濛：东晋大臣，嗜茶。水厄：被水害，指被迫饮茶。
Evidence
- Collation: 各本一致。"水厄"典出此，为茶史上著名的掌故。
- Existing readings: 吴觉农指出"水厄"一典可见晋代饮茶尚未普及：主人热情以茶待客，客人却视茶为"灾"——这恰是茶由小众走向大众的历史缩影。
Analysis
Formally, the section gives a judgment, adds material detail, then returns to human practice. 王濛：东晋大臣，嗜茶。水厄：被水害，指被迫饮茶。 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 VII · The History, section 8; the original is in the public domain.
Get the character right before the taste.