Tea and Tea Culture

    Tea, coffee and cocoa are the three prevailing beverages of the world. Ancient Chinese were the first to cultivate and process tea and prepare the beverage, and the product has been a major export from China.

    The cultivation of tea led to tea species of short shrubs rather than tall trees. Er Ya, the earliest Chinese dictionary, has the character for tea, and says tea tastes bitter. When Emperor Wuwang of the Zhou Dynasty fought the last emperor of the Shang Dynasty and conquered the area of today's Sichuan, Wuwang ordered the local vassals to send lacquer, honey and tea as tributes. In the Qin Dynasty, tea plants spread to Shaanxi, Gansu and Henan, but tea remained a precious product not available to ordinary people. In the Eastern Han Dynasty Buddhism was introduced to China. The consumption of tea gradually increased, for the refreshing beverage was good for monks who sat all day long reading Buddhist scriptures and the surroundings around Buddhist temples in mountains were good for the growth of tea plants. Tea plantations were opened in the Tiantai and Emei mountains near Buddhist temples,

and with increasing tea output the beverage gradually spread among ordinary people.

    In the 500 years between the Eastern Hart and the Southern and Northern dynasties, tea plants were introduced to the Huaihe valley, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and areas south of the Five Ridges, where conditions were ideal for the growth of tea plants. By the Tang Dynasty, tea had become a popular beverage. Two writers write in their essays, "Near the capital there are many tea shops in cities, where customers pay money and get the beverage themselves;" and even in the north "people can do without food for several days but not for a single day without tea." By then tea was produced in fifteen provinces in central, east, south and southwest China. During the reign of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, tax on tea amounted to 400,000 rain a year, and the output value of tea production was about 4 million rain (one min equals to 1,000 copper coins).

   Ancient tea farmers accumulated rich experience in tea production, including the selection of the sites for tea plantations, acceleration of the budding of tea seeds, irrigation, fertilization, and shading for tea trees. They also exchanged tea for animal products from nomad people. Attracted by the flavors of the beverage, men of letters developed a tea culture. From the Tang to the Yuan and Ming dynasties, tea farmers developed various methods for processing tea leaves and buds in different localities. Classification of teas by the manufacturing process results in the three categories of fermented (black), unfermented (green), and semi fermented (oolong or pouchong) teas. The prevalence of the beverage also led to the development of tea service. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, tea has been a major export from China.

   Lu Yu, the tea expert of the Tang Dynasty, wrote Classic of Tea, the world's earliest special work on tea culture. He discussed the origin of tea, growing of the plant, picking of tea leaves, processing, preparing of the beverage, the quality of water, and tea sets, as well as anecdotes about tea. The encyclopedic work was so impressive that people praised its author as the Deity of Tea.

    Tea was introduced to other Asian countries in the 5th century, and to European and American countries in the 176` century. The beverage gradually prevailed throughout the world. China not only exported tea products, but also provided tea plants and seeds for other countries. Nowadays tea plants are grown in many countries, including Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Russia. The Japanese even developed Chado, a tea ceremony, on the basis of Chinese tea culture.