"Wild tea is best; that of the garden is inferior. On sunny cliffs beneath shady woods, the purple buds are best and the green ones inferior; buds like bamboo shoots are best, slen
"In Jiangnan, teas of Ezhou, Yuanzhou, and Jizhou are pungent in taste; those of Fuzhou, Jianzhou, Shaozhou, and Xiangzhou are excellent."
"When Emperor Hui of Jin, fleeing in the dust, returned to Luoyang, the eunuch presented tea in an earthen bowl to the Son of Heaven."
"Some add scallion, ginger, jujube, tangerine peel, cornel, and mint, boiling it a hundred times, or stirring it slippery, or skimming off the froth. This is nothing but ditchwater
A close reading of Chapter V · The Brewing
"Some praise tea that is glossy, black, and even — that is the lowest judgment. Some praise what is wrinkled, yellow, and uneven — that is a middling judgment. But to call everythi
"The guan skewer is cut from bamboo, two and a half feet long, for stringing tea cakes to roast."
"Picked out of season, made carelessly, adulterated with wild weeds, drinking it brings illness. The harm of tea, too, is like that of ginseng."
"Write it out on silk, in four or six panels, and place them by your seat — then the Origin, the Implements, the Making, the Vessels, the Brewing, the Drinking, the History, the Pr
A close reading of Chapter VIII · The Producing Regions