Chapter II · The Implements: History — The cheng base, also called tai or zhen, is made…

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The passage

“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.”

History

“The cheng base, also called tai or zhen, is made…” belongs to a specific moment: Tang tea culture was moving from medicinal and mixed preparations toward a more deliberate way of drinking.

Lu Yu gathered scattered practices into a system: tools, vessels, water, fire, etiquette, and regions. That system is the real subject of the book.

Reading historically keeps us from mistaking one era’s custom for an eternal law of tea.

Reading note

Read the passage once for the image, once for the judgment, and once for the practice it implies.

Practice

• Name one thing the passage asks you to notice.
• Compare it with a tea you know.
• Keep the question open.