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Tea
History
the
first cup of tea was an accident
 Our
story begins over four and a half thousand years ago. According
to Chinese mythology, in 2737 BC the Chinese Emperor, Shen
Nung, scholar and herbalist, was sitting beneath a tree
while his servant boiled drinking water. A leaf from the tree
dropped into the water and Shen Nung decided to try the brew.
The tree was a wild tea tree.
There are many authentic and
supposed references to tea in the centuries before Christ,
according to the Chinese dictionary dated circa 350 AD. The
Chinese t'u was often used to describe shrubs other than tea,
hence the confusion when Confucius allegedly referred to tea or
t'u when writing about the "sow thistle" plant in the
Book of Odes.
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tea
gets its name
 From
the earliest times tea was renowned for its properties as a
healthy, refreshing drink. By the third century AD many stories
were being told and some written about tea and the benefits of
tea drinking, but it was not until the Tang Dynasty (618 AD -
906 AD) that tea became China's national drink and the word ch'a
was used to describe tea.
The first book on
tea "Ch'a Ching", circa 780 AD, was written by the
Chinese author Lu Yu. It comprises three volumes and covers tea
from its growth through to its making and drinking, as well as
covering a historical summary and famous early tea plantation.
There are many illustrations of tea making utensils and some say
that the book inspired the Buddhist priests to create the
Japanese tea ceremony.
The modern term
"tea" derives from early Chinese dialect words - such
as Tchai, Cha and Tay - used both to describe the beverage and
the leaf. Known as Camellia sinensis, tea is an evergreen plant
of the Camellia family. It has smooth, shiny pointed leaves
which look similar to the privet hedge leaf found in British
gardens.
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tea
drinking catches on
As Buddhist
priests start to move around China and Japan, the spread of
cultivation and tea drinking follows them.
The Indian and
Japanese legends both attribute it to Bodhidharma the devout
Buddhist priest who founded Zen Buddhism. The Indian legend
tells how in the fifth year of a seven year sleepless
contemplation of Buddha he began to feel drowsy. He immediately
plucked a few leaves from a nearby bush and chewed them which
dispelled his tiredness. The bush was a wild tea tree.
The first mention
of tea outside China and Japan is said to be by the Arabs in 850
AD and it was they who were reputed to have brought it to Europe
via the Venetians circa 1559. However, it is the Portuguese and
Dutch who claim the credit bringing tea and tea drinking to
Europe.
The Portuguese
opened up the sea routes to China, some say as early as 1515.
Jesuit priests travelling on the ships brought the tea drinking
habit back to Portugal, while the sailors manning the ships
encouraged the Dutch merchants to enter the trade. Subsequently
a regular shipment of tea to ports in France, Holland and the
Baltic coast was set up in 1610. England entered the trade via
the East India Company, or the John Company as it was known, in
the mid to late 17th Century
tea in
britain
tea
arrives in britain
 The
early beginnings of tea in Britain are obscure. The East India
Company, under their charter granted by Elizabeth I to the
Directors, had the monopoly of importing goods from outside
Europe and recorded ships reaching Britain in 1637, but no
record of tea dealings with Chinese merchants appears until
1644. Sailors bringing back packets of tea from the Far East as
gifts, led to its introduction into London's coffee houses.
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tea
gains popularity in britain
The merchant Thomas Garway was among the
first to trade tea in Britain. He offered it in dry and liquid
form at his coffee house in Exchange Alley in the City of
London, holding his first public sale in 1657.
In 1660, Garway issued a broadsheet
selling tea for sale at £6 and £10 per pound. Garway claimed
tea was "wholesome, preserving perfect health until extreme
old age, good for clearing the sight," able to cure
"gripping of the guts, cold, dropsies, scurveys" and
claiming that "it could make the body active and
lusty."
The first tea advertisement - announcing
the sale of "China Tcha, Tay or Tee" - appeared on 30
September 1658, in the newspaper Mercurius Politicus, booked by
the owner of The Sultaness Head Coffee House. Tea rapidly gained
popularity in these establishments and by 1700, was on sale by
more than 500 coffee houses in London. Tavern keepers were
dismayed as the coffee house vogue swept into being, as was the
Government by the decline in revenues from hard liquor sales.
By the middle of the 18th century,
however, tea had replaced ale and gin as the drink of the masses
and had become Britain's most popular beverage. for further
information, see ''Teetotal" link in here to teetotafor tea
and the temperance movement.
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