
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Thesis
Section 1 is not really about “籝一曰篮一曰笼一曰筥以竹织之受五升或一斗二斗”; it is about how Lu Yu turns tea from a local product into an object of argument.
Text
“The ying — also called lan, long, or ju — is woven of bamboo. It holds five sheng, or one, two, three dou; the tea picker carries it on the back when gathering leaves.”
Context
籝(yíng):竹编的采茶筐。受:容量。负:背负。
Evidence
- Collation: 底本以宋百川学海本为据。本句各本大体一致,唯"受五升"以下容量,四库本作"受五升或一斗二斗三斗",异文只在断句之辨。
- Existing readings: 吴觉农《茶经述评》指出:籝即采茶篮,唐代茶区普遍使用,容量分档是为"随日采多寡而备",这种因采摘量定容器大小的做法,与后世"一篮一岗"的采工制度一脉相承。
Analysis
Formally, the section gives a judgment, adds material detail, then returns to human practice. 籝(yíng):竹编的采茶筐。受:容量。负:背负。 That is why the Classic of Tea reads as an argued book rather than a miscellany.
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 II · The Implements, section 1; the original is in the public domain.
Get the character right before the taste.