Lu Yu's Categorization Of Tea Water In China

Lu Yu’s categorization of tea water basically set up the standard for later generations; however, the evaluation of tea water became much more complicated in later generations. Even though later scholar-officials all considered Lu Yu’s book as the most important classic, new thoughts about water choice kept emerging. The complication of water choice not only reflected the changes that had appeared in the tea market, but also implied the sophistication of perception on water tasting. Decades after Lu Yu, Zhang Youxin (?-?), a high-rank official in the Tang Dynasty, wrote an essay, which only focuses on the water for tea drinking. He added new ways to evaluate the water for tea drinking, and the basic rule was that the water should be