Chapter III · The Making · Section 3: A common misreading — reading “其日有雨不采晴有云不采晴采之”

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Thesis

The common mistake is to lift “其日有雨不采晴有云不采晴采之” out of its sentence and turn it into an absolute rule.

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 usual misreading extracts “其日有雨不采晴有云不采晴采之” as a slogan. 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”。 In fact every judgment in the chapter carries a limit of place, season and use.

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.

In Tang context, 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。. Tea was tribute, medicine and monastery drink at once, not a standalone commodity; the conclusion cannot be transferred without that context.

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.