Chapter VIII · The Producing Regions · Section 4: A common misreading — reading “浙东以越州上明州婺州次台州下”

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Thesis

The common mistake is to lift “浙东以越州上明州婺州次台州下” out of its sentence and turn it into an absolute rule.

Text

“In Zhedong Circuit, Yuezhou is best, Mingzhou and Wuzhou next, and Taizhou lower.”

Context

浙东道：今浙江东部。越州（绍兴）为上。

Evidence

• Collation: 各本一致。"越州"即今绍兴，唐代越窑青瓷产地，亦产名茶。
• Existing readings: 吴觉农指出浙东越州（绍兴）与浙西湖州（顾渚）南北相望，同为唐代贡茶重镇；越州日铸茶在宋代更是名噪一时，印证了陆羽"越州上"的预见。

Analysis

The usual misreading extracts “浙东以越州上明州婺州次台州下” as a slogan. 各本一致。"越州"即今绍兴，唐代越窑青瓷产地，亦产名茶。 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 VIII · The Producing Regions, section 4; the original is in the public domain.

In Tang context, 吴觉农指出浙东越州（绍兴）与浙西湖州（顾渚）南北相望，同为唐代贡茶重镇；越州日铸茶在宋代更是名噪一时，印证了陆羽"越州上"的预见。. 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. 吴觉农指出浙东越州（绍兴）与浙西湖州（顾渚）南北相望，同为唐代贡茶重镇；越州日铸茶在宋代更是名噪一时，印证了陆羽"越州上"的预见。 The variables remain useful, but none of them alone explains the cup.

Storage adds another variable: moisture and temperature. 各本一致。"越州"即今绍兴，唐代越窑青瓷产地，亦产名茶。 Old and young tea do not share one shelf life, so “the older the better” is not a rule.