Chapter II · The Implements: Commentary — The bei drying-pit is dug two feet deep, two and…
"The bei drying-pit is dug two feet deep, two and a half feet wide, and one zhang long. Above it a low wall two feet high is built and plastered with clay."
Chapter IX · The Omissions: Making — But in towns and noble households, if one of the…
"But in towns and noble households, if one of the twenty-four vessels is missing, the tea ceremony is spoiled."
Chapter IV · The Vessels: Practice today — The fu cauldron is made of raw iron. Its inner…
"The fu cauldron is made of raw iron. Its inner mold is clay, so the inside is smooth and easy to scour; its outer mold is sand, so the outside is rough and endures the flame."
Chapter III · The Making: Terroir — Tea is gathered in the second, third, and fourth months…
"Tea is gathered in the second, third, and fourth months."
Chapter II · The Implements: Close reading — The stove should have no chimney; the cauldron should have…
"The stove should have no chimney; the cauldron should have a lipped rim."
Chapter IV · The Vessels: Plain reading — When it first boils, with fish-eye bubbles and a faint…
"When it first boils, with fish-eye bubbles and a faint sound, that is the first boil; when the rim seethes like linked pearls, the second; when it surges like waves, the third. Be
Chapter III · The Making: Taste and body — The buds that sprout from dense thickets, with three, four…
"The buds that sprout from dense thickets, with three, four, or five shoots, are picked by selecting those that rise most boldly."
Chapter II · The Implements: Text and editions — The cheng base, also called tai or zhen, is made…
"The cheng base, also called tai or zhen, is made of stone; otherwise of locust or mulberry wood, half-buried in the ground so that it will not rock."
Chapter III · The Making: Practice today — The good and ill of tea rest in the transmitted…
"The good and ill of tea rest in the transmitted oral formula."
Chapter II · The Implements: Terroir — The chuan string is made in Jiangdong and Huainan from…
"The chuan string is made in Jiangdong and Huainan from split bamboo, and in Bashan and the gorges from twisted mulberry-bark. In Jiangdong one jin is a large string, half a jin a