
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Thesis
The key words in “籝一曰篮一曰笼一曰筥以竹织之受五升或一斗二斗” are not ornament. They mark where Tang tea names, vessels and provenance meet.
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
The annotation matters less as philology than as a distinction between name and thing. 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。 Once names settle, picking, grading and trade can share a language.
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.
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