Chapter I · The Origin: Misreadings — Its tree resembles the gualu; its leaves the gardenia; its…
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The passage
“Its tree resembles the gualu; its leaves the gardenia; its flowers the white rose; its fruit the palm-nut; its stem the clove; its root the walnut.”
Misreadings
The most common misreading of “Its tree resembles the gualu; its leaves the gardenia; its…” is to treat a Tang observation as a universal rule.
“Wild is better than garden” made sense in a particular landscape and market. It is not a law that every modern tea garden is inferior.
Ask instead: what was the observation responding to, and what part of it still holds?
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.