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Thesis
Section 2 is not really about “其沸如鱼目微有声为一沸缘边如涌泉连珠为二沸腾”; it is about how Lu Yu turns tea from a local product into an object of argument.
Text
“When the water first boils — with bubbles like fish eyes and a faint sound — that is the first boil. When bubbles rise along the rim like a linked string of spring pearls, that is the second boil. When it surges and rolls like waves, that is the third boil.”
Context
三沸的辨识：初沸如鱼眼小泡微响；二沸如涌泉连珠沿边翻涌；三沸则大浪翻滚。
Evidence
- Collation: “腾波鼓浪"四库本作"腾波鼓浪”，各本一致；三沸的形容"鱼目"“连珠”"鼓浪"为历代注本反复申说之语。
- Existing readings: 吴觉农评三沸之说"最见经验"：一沸为初沸（约80℃），二沸为茶器冲泡最佳，三沸则水老气散。今人"水不可滚太久"的泡茶经验，正是此说的延续。
Analysis
Formally, the section gives a judgment, adds material detail, then returns to human practice. 三沸的辨识：初沸如鱼眼小泡微响；二沸如涌泉连珠沿边翻涌；三沸则大浪翻滚。 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 V · The Brewing, section 2; the original is in the public domain.
Get the character right before the taste.