Chapter II · The Implements: Making — The yu storage cabinet is made of wood, woven of…
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The passage
“The yu storage cabinet is made of wood, woven of bamboo, and pasted with paper. It has a shelf inside, a cover above, a base below, and a door at the side, with one panel shut. Within is placed a vessel holding smoldering charcoal, kept gently warm. During the plum rains of Jiangnan, it is fired to drive off dampness.”
Making
Tea is made, not merely picked. The timing of the harvest and the precision of each step decide how much of the mountain survives in the cup.
Fixation, rolling, oxidation, and drying all push the leaf in different directions. A fine raw material can be lost by a careless hand.
Read the old processing sequence as a chain of decisions, not a list of museum objects.
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.