Chapter III · The Making · Section 3: Words and things — reading “其日有雨不采晴有云不采晴采之”

Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

Thesis

The key words in “其日有雨不采晴有云不采晴采之” are not ornament. They mark where Tang tea names, vessels and provenance meet.

Text

“On rainy days do not pick; on clear days with clouds do not pick; only on perfectly clear days pick.”

Context

雨天不采，晴而有云也不采；须是晴朗无云之日才采。

Evidence

• Collation: 本句强调择天采摘，各本文字一致。“晴有云不采"为后人不解之处，吴觉农释为"微阴欲雨，芽叶含水量高易烂”。
• Existing readings: 吴觉农解读：雨天或阴天芽叶含水多，蒸后易闷黄变质；陆羽定"晴采"标准，是对鲜叶质量的严格把关。

Analysis

The annotation matters less as philology than as a distinction between name and thing. 本句强调择天采摘，各本文字一致。“晴有云不采"为后人不解之处，吴觉农释为"微阴欲雨，芽叶含水量高易烂”。 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 III · The Making, section 3; the original is in the public domain.

A maker reads “其日有雨不采晴有云不采晴采之” through weather and soil first. 雨天不采，晴而有云也不采；须是晴朗无云之日才采。 That is not far from how we judge a mountain and a picking window today.

The vessel is not background. 雨天不采，晴而有云也不采；须是晴朗无云之日才采。 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.