Chapter V · The Brewing · Section 5: At a contemporary tea table — reading “凡炙茶慎勿于风烬间炙熛焰如钻使炎凉不均持以逼”

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Thesis

“凡炙茶慎勿于风烬间炙熛焰如钻使炎凉不均持以逼” still has operational value at a contemporary tea table, provided Tang conditions are not silently universalised.

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

To repeat this section today is not to copy a Tang utensil list. It is to keep its order of judgment: leaf first, then water and fire, then the table.

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.

As a new reader, I first took “凡炙茶慎勿于风烬间炙熛焰如钻使炎凉不均持以逼” as a conclusion. Reading the annotation to section 5 again, it is clearly a judgment with conditions attached.

Textually, 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。. The point is that “the original” is not a single stable text; name the edition before making a strong claim.

The vessel is not background. 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。 The same leaf in a different bowl, grinder or sieve changes aroma and texture; vessel and tea are defined together.