Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Thesis
The key words in “贯削竹为之长二尺五寸以贯茶焙之” are not ornament. They mark where Tang tea names, vessels and provenance meet.
Text
“The guan skewer is cut from bamboo, two and a half feet long, for stringing tea cakes to roast.”
Context
贯：穿茶的竹条。削竹制成，长二尺五寸，用来把茶饼穿起置于焙上。
Evidence
- Collation: 各本一致。吴觉农注：贯与后文"穿"不同，此"贯"为焙时穿饼的竹签。
- Existing readings: 吴觉农指出"贯"是焙茶穿饼之签，一签可贯数饼悬于炉上受热均匀——唐代焙茶已讲究"悬焙"，避免贴地烤焦。
Analysis
The annotation matters less as philology than as a distinction between name and thing. 各本一致。吴觉农注：贯与后文"穿"不同，此"贯"为焙时穿饼的竹签。 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 9; the original is in the public domain.
Ask what period this person lived in.