
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Thesis
“凡炙茶慎勿于风烬间炙熛焰如钻使炎凉不均持以逼” only becomes legible inside Tang tribute tea, monastery tea and literati life.
Text
“When roasting the tea, beware of roasting over a windy ash-fire, where leaping flames make the heat uneven. Hold it near the fire and turn it again and again, until bumps rise like toad-backs, then move it five inches from the fire.”
Context
炙茶:烤茶饼。风烬:有风的灰烬。熛焰(biāo yàn):飞腾的火焰。培塿(péi lǒu):小土丘。蟆背:蟾蜍背。
Evidence
- Collation: 各本一致。吴觉农注:炙茶为唐代煮茶前置工序,烤出"蟆背"即火候恰好。
- Existing readings: 吴觉农指出"炙茶"是唐代特有工序:饼茶须先烤软、再碾末,烤至"蟆背"出香而不焦——此"文火慢烤"之法,与今人醒茶、焙香异曲同工。
Analysis
The largest gap between Tang and now is that tea was simultaneously medicine, tribute and everyday practice. 吴觉农指出"炙茶"是唐代特有工序:饼茶须先烤软、再碾末,烤至"蟆背"出香而不焦——此"文火慢烤"之法,与今人醒茶、焙香异曲同工。 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 V · The Brewing, section 5; the original is in the public domain.
Ask what period this person lived in.