Chapter VII · The History: Close reading — Wang Meng of Jin loved tea, and pressed it on…
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The passage
“Wang Meng of Jin loved tea, and pressed it on every visitor; the officials dreaded it, and whenever they meant to call they would say, ‘Today we must suffer the water-calamity.’”
Close reading
In Chapter VII · The History, this passage works as a definition rather than a decoration. It sets the terms that the rest of the chapter will use.
The key phrase is “Wang Meng of Jin loved tea, and pressed it on…”. Read it slowly: what is being described, what is being judged, and what is being left out?
A close reading asks not only what the sentence says, but what it assumes about tea, tools, and the person drinking it.
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.