Tea

History of tea

Tea is the most favourite beverage of the people world over. The history of tea dates back to 2737 BC. It is believed that the tea originated in China. According to a Chinese legend, Shen Nung, the second emperor of China, who is considered as the father of agriculture and the inventor of Chinese herbal medicine, invented tea accidentally. The story goes like this. One day while he was sitting in the garden some leaves fell in to his cup of water, the emperor happened to taste that water which had a nice aroma and flavor, thus the tea leaves was discovered.

Another legend connects the Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, who is the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism to the discovery of tea. According to this legend, it is believed that Bodhidharma became angry as he was falling asleep during his meditation and cut off his eyelids.

And tea bushes sprung out of the earth where his eye lids fell. But in Chinese history, tea has been mentioned as early as in 222 AD, whereas the monk traveled to China only in 520.

The refreshing effect and medicinal properties of tea were known to Chinese people and its uses were being widely spread during the third century. Tea was given the status of China’s national drink during the reign of Tang Dynasty.

The first book on tea, Ch’a Ching was written by the tea Saint Lu Yu in 780 AD. In this book he has described about the various practices in tea cultivation, as well as the methods of tea preparation that was prevalent in China those days. Tea was brought to Japan from China; it was introduced in Japan by Yensei a Buddhist monk. Tea became very popular in Japan in1911, as powdered tea and tea seeds were brought to Japan by the Zen priest Eisai, who is known as the Father of tea of Japan.

Pu-erh tea is one of the oldest types of tea famous in China. It has a history of more than 1700 years. Its origin can be traced back to the Eastern Han dynasty who was ruling China till 220 AD. In those days it was freely traded and was used as money for bartering of goods. When the demand rose, the Chinese farmers started tea cultivation.

The Portuguese Jesuit, Father Jasper de Cruz in 1560 brought it to Europe. Tea was first brought to the colonists of America in New Amsterdam by Peter Stuyvesant in1650. Dutch introduced the word ‘tea’ around the year 1665. They also started the practice of adding milk to the tea. It was in Dutch inns, tea was first served as a drink.

Tea was at first regarded more as a medicine than a beverage. In 1662 Charles II and his wife Princess Catherine de Braganza established tea cultivation in England. In India, tea plantations were set up by the British using the seeds smuggled from China. The practice of afternoon tea was started by Anna the Duchess of Bedford in1840. Using tea bags came into existence only in1980, tea packed in small silk bags were immersed into hot water to produce tea decoction.

Chinese merchants developed the practice of roasting the tea leaves to prevent rotting of leaves during the Ming dynasty. The process includes letting the leaves to get oxidized in open air to produce black tea .Chinese still  has liking towards the native green tea.

Tea has been a prominent drink in many countries and cultures for more than 4000 years. People all over the world believed in the healing power of the tea, and it is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. For centuries tea has not only helped people to improve their health but also helped them in socializing with people during the so called ‘tea time’.

The traditional tea ceremony started in China. It was a practice in China for thousands of years. A Chinese Buddhist monk introduced this practice to Japan in ninth century. After its introduction, tea ceremony became very popular in Japan also. Tea was so costly during olden times that pirates used to raid tea ships more than the ships carrying gold or silver.

The Chinese tea is favored not only because of its flavor, but is found to have health benefits like lowering the blood pressure and increasing body’s immunity. Chinese tea is available in almost all the stores around the world.