After eating desserts and pastries, Dowager Lady Jia and fellows proceeded to the Long Cui Cottage. The host, Miao Yu, immediately held a small tea tray and presented it to Dowager Lady Jia. The tea-tray was in the shape of a peony, made of red carved lacquer, and inlaid with a gold-gliding figure of a dragon flying over the cloud to celebrate one’s birthday. On the tea-tray, there was a five-colour Ming-Dynasty design teacup with a cover lid from Ming Dynasty-Kiln (成窯五彩小蓋鐘, lit. five-colour porcelain bell from Ming Dynasty Kiln). For other people, Miao Yu provided them with a newly-made standard pure white teacup with a cover lid from the government kiln (官窯脫胎填白蓋碗).

The teacup for Dowager Lady Jia, the five-colour porcelain bell from Ming Dynasty Kiln is said to be a product from the government kiln in Cheng Hua period (明成化年間，1465-1485) of the Ming Dynasty. This type of five-colour porcelain was extremely rare due to limited production. Nowadays, this type of porcelain is extremely expensive and seldom found in the market.

On the other hand, the teacup for other fellows was Qing-Dynasty’s product from the government kiln which fabricated Ming-Dynasty’s Design. It’s called “newly made pure white teacup with a cover lid”, which claimed itself be as white as porcelain made in Yong Le years (明永樂年間，1403-1424) in the Ming Dynasty, which was famous for its thinness and permeability to light. This is a commonly fabricated product in the Qing Dynasty. 

After presenting tea to Dowager Lady Jia, Miao Yu secretly pulled the sleeves of lady Bao Chai (寶釵) and lady Dai Yu (黛玉), hinting them to follow her, and Bao Yu (寶玉) traced them and hid outside the “small talk side room” (小耳房). Miao Yu boiled a pot of hot water and prepared another pot of tea. Bao Yu, who was peeking outside, stepped in and said, “Hey! you hide yourselves and enjoy the best-kept secret tea!” The two ladies smiled and replied, “You want to beg for tea again. There is none for you.”

Miao Yu soon found another two cups. The one with a cup handle was inscribed with three characters in ancient Han Official script styles (隸字), namely “Ban Jia Qiao” (（分瓜）瓟斝, lit. a wine vessel made of divided gourd), and another line of inscription with small fonts, “Beloved Treasure of Jin Dynasty Wang Kai (晉王愷珍玩)” (王愷, 217-circa 291, a noble man known for his wealth) and yet another small footnote “In the fourth month of the fifth year of Yuan Feng years (宋元豐五年，1082) of the Sung Dynasty, which Su Shi (蘇軾, 1037-1101, a famous poet) found in a small hidden room.” (宋元豐五年四月眉山蘇軾見於秘府). Miao Yu filled this cup with tea and presented it to Bao Chai.

Another cup in a shape of a small pot was inscribed with three characters in Qin Dynasty Seal Script (篆字) in Pearl Stroke calligraphy (垂珠), namely “Dian Xi Qiao” (點犀䀉, lit. The pot for lighting rhinoceros’ horn). Miao Yu filled the pot with tea and presented it to Dai Yu. In Chinese, “lighting rhinoceros’ horn” is a quote from the famous poet “we light up our rhinoceros’ horn in our heart and get connected” (心有靈犀一點通) (Translator’s note: In Chinese myth, lighting the rhinoceros’ horn can let one see through the spiritual realms). Finally, she filled her own cup, namely Lü Yu Dou (綠玉鬥, lit. Squared green jade) and presented it to Bao Yu.

Later, Mao Yu was delighted by Bao Yu’s sayings, and eventually brought a big wine vessel called Big Hai (大) to Bao Yu. This vessel was craved with whole bamboo shoot with ten rings weaved in nine knots and one hundred and twenty bamboo joints in total. The bamboo vessel was made in the shape of a coiling dragon. When Bao Yu drank tea with this cup, he felt so delighted that he fell off the ground. He could not help but incessantly praise the quality of the tea (寶玉吃茶, 果覺輕浮無比, 讚賞不絕).

All of the tea set described in Dream of the Red Chamber, namely “the five-colour porcelain bell from Ming Dynasty Kiln”, “newly-made standard pure white teacup with a cover lid from the government kiln”, “vessel made of divided gourd”, “the pot for lighting rhinoceros’ horn”, “squared green jade”, and “coiling dragon vessel made of entire bamboo shoot”, were precious treasures. Also, some of these utensils were inscribed with descriptions like “the beloved treasure of Wang Kai in the Jin Dynasty” and “Su Shi’s discovery”. Furthermore, Miao Yu presented different cups for different people, which reflects the profoundness of Chinese culture and aesthetics.

In The Classic of Tea (茶經) written by Lu Yu (陸羽, 733-804), it says, “For making tea, water from the mountain is the best, river water is average, water from the well is the worst (泉水上, 江水中, 井水下).” Cao Xueqin’s understanding of water is also extraordinary.

While Dowager Lady Jia had tasted the Aged Chun Mei, she asked Miao Yu what kind of water she used for making the tea. Miao Yu replied, “it’s the rainwater collected last year.” During the appreciation of private reserved tea in the “small talk side room” with Bao Yu, Dai Yu and Bao Chai, Dai Yu asked, “is this water also collected from the last year’s rainfall?” Miao Yu replied, “when I was living in the Hsuan Mu Monastery of Scent of the Holy Dragon (玄墓蟠香寺) five years ago, I collected the snow on the plum petals, I worked so hard that my face turned pale green so that I obtained a small pot of water which could fill in a small flower vase. I sealed and buried it, not taking it out until this summer. I only tasted this water once, and this is the second time.”

The clear rainwater collected in the previous year and the snow water collected from the plum petals are both called by the general public as “Water without Roots” (無根水).

“Water without Roots” means that it comes from the sky. This term can broadly refer to water obtained from dew, rainwater, snow, and frost etc. What is the difference between ordinary water and “water without roots”? Usually, ordinary water could be divided into heavy water (deuterium oxide) and light water (water contains no deuterium oxide). Deuterium Oxide is known to be inhibitive to our metabolism. The “water without roots”, which is not taken from the ground, has much less deuterium oxide (less heavy water). Therefore, the sentence “Bao Yu was so delighted that he fell off the ground and couldn’t help himself praising incessantly for the quality of the tea” is an extremely accurate description of “Water without Roots”.

Plum flowers start to blossom on La Yue (臘月, lit: the last month of the lunar year). The snow fallen on this month is called La Xue (lit: 臘雪snow fallen on the month “La Yue”). In Bencao Gangmu (本草綱目) aka the Compendium of Materia Medica or Great Pharmacopoeia) written by Li Shizhen (李時珍, 1518-1593), it says, “Snow fallen in the last month of the year, which is cold but not toxic, can cure every toxin in the body. It can be used to cure pandemic arisen from unexpected weather. Also, it can not only cure children’s seizure and incessant crying due to fever, but also cure adults who drink too much and suffer from heat stroke in the body after taking too much stone power (note: a type of drugs). If one suffers from jaundice, the ‘water without roots’ should be heated a bit before drinking. For those with eye inflammation, the inflammation would be cured by washing the eyes using ‘water without roots’. For normal people, one can use this water to prepare tea or congee so that one could eliminate the heat from the body and no longer feel thirsty (臘雪甘冷無毒，解一切毒。治天行時氣瘟疫，小兒熱癇狂啼，大人丹石發動，酒後暴熱，黃疸仍小溫服之。藏器洗目退赤；煎茶煮粥，解熱止渴). Ancient Chinese used the “water without roots” to make tea and congee, to eliminate body heat and quench one’s thirst. This is not only healthy but also romantic. We could imagine that it is so difficult to collect snow from peony petals. Miao Yu buried this water for five years and treasured it so much, but only shared this when Bao Yu, Dai Yu and Bao Chai visited her. To share one’s treasure with friends is also a blessing as it means that one encounters a truly magical moment.

Good tea must pair up with a good tea set, a good tea set must be filled with good water. None of the above could be missed from the preparation of a cup of good tea. When the heartily-prepared tea is appreciated in a tranquil environment, tea is not just for drinking and tasting, but even the art of life.

In the other chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber, there are many scenes about tea and tea appreciation, for example, Bao Yu’s favourite Acer Truncatum tea (楓露茶) and Longjing tea (龍井茶) served to the guests in Dai Yu’s living place Xiao Xiang Pavilion (瀟湘館, lit: Pavilion of the Xiao river and Xiang River). The lacquered tea-tray in the living room of Dowager Lady Jia was paired up with various teacups with various styles. Cao Xueqin is really a big fan of tea, and he opens a new window of all tea lovers to look into the ancient Chinese tea culture.