Chapter V · The Brewing · Section 7: At a contemporary tea table — reading “凡煮水一升酌分五碗乘热连饮之以重浊凝其下精英”

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Thesis

“凡煮水一升酌分五碗乘热连饮之以重浊凝其下精英” still has operational value at a contemporary tea table, provided Tang conditions are not silently universalised.

Text

“For each sheng of water, divide it into five bowls and drink while hot, in succession. The heavy and muddy settles below; the essence and fineness floats above.”

Context

酌分五碗：一升水分五碗。乘热连饮：趁热连着喝。重浊：厚重浑浊的部分。精英：精华。

Evidence

• Collation: 各本一致。吴觉农注："重浊凝其下，精英浮其上"道出茶汤分层之理。
• Existing readings: 吴觉农指出"乘热连饮"是陆羽的饮茶要领：热饮则精华在口，凉则精英散而浊味现——今人"茶要趁热喝"的老话，正源于此。

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 7; the original is in the public domain.

The vessel is not background. 酌分五碗：一升水分五碗。乘热连饮：趁热连着喝。重浊：厚重浑浊的部分。精英：精华。 The same leaf in a different bowl, grinder or sieve changes aroma and texture; vessel and tea are defined together.

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, 吴觉农指出"乘热连饮"是陆羽的饮茶要领：热饮则精华在口，凉则精英散而浊味现——今人"茶要趁热喝"的老话，正源于此。. Tea was tribute, medicine and monastery drink at once, not a standalone commodity; the conclusion cannot be transferred without that context.