Chapter III · The Making · Section 3: In Tang context — reading “其日有雨不采晴有云不采晴采之”

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Thesis

“其日有雨不采晴有云不采晴采之” only becomes legible inside Tang tribute tea, monastery tea and literati life.

Text

“On rainy days do not pick; on clear days with clouds do not pick; only on perfectly clear days pick.”

Context

雨天不采，晴而有云也不采；须是晴朗无云之日才采。

Evidence

• Collation: 本句强调择天采摘，各本文字一致。“晴有云不采"为后人不解之处，吴觉农释为"微阴欲雨，芽叶含水量高易烂”。
• Existing readings: 吴觉农解读：雨天或阴天芽叶含水多，蒸后易闷黄变质；陆羽定"晴采"标准，是对鲜叶质量的严格把关。

Analysis

The largest gap between Tang and now is that tea was simultaneously medicine, tribute and everyday practice. 吴觉农解读：雨天或阴天芽叶含水多，蒸后易闷黄变质；陆羽定"晴采"标准，是对鲜叶质量的严格把关。 Without that, the chapter collapses into botany.

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 III · The Making, section 3; 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. 吴觉农解读：雨天或阴天芽叶含水多，蒸后易闷黄变质；陆羽定"晴采"标准，是对鲜叶质量的严格把关。 The variables remain useful, but none of them alone explains the cup.

Storage adds another variable: moisture and temperature. 本句强调择天采摘，各本文字一致。“晴有云不采"为后人不解之处，吴觉农释为"微阴欲雨，芽叶含水量高易烂”。 Old and young tea do not share one shelf life, so “the older the better” is not a rule.