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The History of Tea |
The Legendary Origins of Tea
The Naming of Tea
Tea - A Drink of Many Uses
The Chinese Religious Influence
The Chinese Dynastic Influence
The Japanese Experience
Tea Popularity Spreads
Europe Learns of Tea
Tea in India
The Role of British Trading Companies
Sri Lanka and Ceylon Tea
Tea Comes To America
Tea and the American Revolution
The Boston Tea Party
Iced Tea and Tea Bags
Tea and the British Empire
Hong kong and the Opium Wars
Afternoon Tea in England
English Coffee Houses addTtea to the Menu
Tea Gardens
Global Tea Plantations Develop
America Enters the Tea Trade
Tea in Russia and the Soviet Union
The Clipper Days
Tea Rooms, Tea Courts and Tea Dances
The History of Teaware
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Tea- A Rich History of Tea
After water, tea is the oldest and most important beverage in the world. But the History of Tea is more than a survey of events or the focus on great men who influenced the role of tea in history. Tea has remained unchanged is its basic form for over 5,000 years but its impact on economic and political events has been enormous but often understated.
Tea is pervasive in every major society and its influence Th does not stop at just being a healthy, delicious and refreshing drink. Indeed, tea, the drink brewed from the camellia sinensis plant has had a major impact on world commerce and has influenced world political and military events.
There is no other beverage, except water, that has had such profound effects on human life nor enjoyed a popularity for so long by so many.
The Legendary Origins of Tea - Myth and Reality
The story of tea began in ancient China over 5,000 years ago and is surrounded in myth and legend. According to legend, Shen Nung, an early emperor and an enlightened ruler who realized that water borne disease was a major threat to Chinese society and that all drinking water must be boiled as a hygienic precaution.
According to the legend, one summer day while traveling, the Emperor's servants boiled water for the court to drink and during this process leaves from a nearby bush fell into the boiling water. The combination of boiled water and tea leaves (the bush was the camellia sinensis plant) produced a flavorful brown liquid .
The Emperor drank some of the liquid and found it very refreshing. As a result, according to legend, tea was created.
This simple, and often quoted explanation for the introduction of tea illustrates three characteristics of tea:
- Tea is an ancient drink
- The origins of tea are rightly associated with the history of China
- The health benefits of tea, boiled in pure water, added to the growth of a healthy culture in China.
whether this story is myth or fact (and there are few if any facts to substantiate this claim), tea originated in Southern China and grew in popularity spreading rapidly throughout China. Until this day, tea and China are synonymous.
The reality of the discovery of tea in China is more complex than the legend. Many historians believe that tea was first introduced and cultivated in Yunnan Province (located in southwestern China and bordering on present day Burma, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand) in a rich, lush area of jungle that was favorable to the growth of the tea bush.
What China added to the world of tea, however was an advanced society with an efficient bureaucracy that supported the spread of tea consumption in a methodical and rapid way. And, equally important, tea transition from a basic food to a valuable medicine under Chinese management.
By the third century AD in China the story of tea and its benefits were well known, but it was not until the Tang Dynasty (618 CE - 906 CE) that tea officially became China's national drink. During this time the word ch'a was used to describe tea.
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Naming of Tea - What's in a Name?
Historians have noted that the first book on tea "Ch'a Ching", was written by the Chinese author Lu Yu around 780 CE. The text was expansive: it comprised three volumes and addresses all aspects of tea drinking, history and production.
In addition to tea specifics, the first mention of tea culture was put forth and added a new dimension - the tea ceremony- to tea drinking.
The tea ceremony and the the many illustrations of tea making utensils in the book had a profound influence on tea culture in China and later in Japan.
China was, and is, a place of many language dialects and 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. As the consumption of tea spread to the western world as a result of Dutch, Portuguese and British trading development, the term became westernized to the tea term we now use today.
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Tea - A Drink of Many Uses
Tea can be traced to prehistoric times in Yunnan Province China.
Theories are put forth that, during prehistoric times inhabitants began chewing tea leaves after watching local animal species consume tea plants for food. As the locals developed a taste for tea, the initial refreshing and invigorating benefits were soon recognized and the popularity of tea spread.
Experiments in tea usage included adding the leaves to medicinal herbs in order to allay the effects of various ailments. Continued experimentation soon found the use of tea alone to improve the human condition.
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The Chinese Religious Influence - Zen Buddhism, Confusianism and Daoism
The influence of China on the ancient, medieval and modern world cannot be overstated. While many western historians have tended to focus on purely western cultures and institutions, China remained a cultural, political, philosophical and economic force that would be recognized as trade and commerce spread world wide.
The impact of the three great Chinese religions was profound as well. The three great religions, Zen Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism combined aspects of philosophy and meditation in an effort to offer the spirit of simple natural living to the individual.
Unlike most western religions, very little force was used to spread the religious philosophies. Instead, reason, persuasion observation of natural events and meditation served to expand and develop the religious base.
All three religions embraced tea for its healthful virtues and powers of rejuvenation. The priests and monks of the three great Chinese religions had a profound influence on the Chinese population at large and strongly recommended the consumption of tea for it health and stimulating effects.
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Chinese Dynastic Influence Tea Drinking
As the consumption of tea in China expanded and grew the dynastic bureaucracy of the ruling dynasties in China improved the production and distribution of tea.
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The Japanese Experience
Buddhist priests, as part of their travels and commitment to the health aspects of tea, brought tea seeds to Japan.
Due to this fact , tea in Japan has always been associated with Zen Buddhism. Tea received almost instant imperial support and sponsorship. As a result tea spread rapidly throughout the entirety of Japanese society.
Japan adopted a different approach to tea than China, adopting a powdered form of tea and developing a "way of tea" called Chanoyu that embraced a highly stylistic form of tea brewing.
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Tea Popularity Spreads
As Buddhist priests start to move around China and Japan and eventually other parts of Asia, the spread of cultivation and tea drinking followed them.
First was India where Hinduism was similar to Buddhism and tea was embraced by local Hindu's. The climate of India was also very conducive to the cultivation of quality tea.After the initial beachhead of popularity provided bu the holy men, more and more of the population started to consume tea. 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 and the commercialization of tea began in earnest..
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Europe Learns of Tea
While tea popularity was clearly established in both Japan and China, news of tea eventually filtered back to Europe. Earlier caravan leaders had touched upon tea, but tea as a commodity did not immediately take hold.
The Portuguese at this time started importing tea by sea to Lisbon and a great deal of the imports were then transshipped on Dutch ships to France, Holland, and the Baltic countries. Eventually the Dutch, with a superior navy of their own, entered into full Pacific trade in her own right.
Rapidly, as tea became a marketable commodity, demand for tea beverages increased.
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Tea in India
Combined with a favorable environment and a long growing season, Tea cultivation flourished in India under the British, and today China and India are the largest producers of tea in the world.
The production of tea was stimulated after Europe adopted tea as its main hot beverage and China imposed restrictions on its export to the outside world.
In order to meet the increasing world demand the British established tea cultivation in the north eastern parts of India. Organized cultivation also spread to South India later to Sri Lanka.
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The Role of British Trading Companies
As tea became a commercialized product and lowered taxes allowed the entire population the pleasures of drinking tea,British trading companies improved the cultivation abd distribution of tea.
Although not the first western nation to realize the value of tea in world trade, Britain became the dominant trading power in the 18th and 19th centuries. A large and growing portion of British trade included tea.
In addition to a mercantile strategy and powerful navy that kept the sea lanes open, Britain granted licenses to powerful trading companies like the John Company and the East India Company whose capitalistic drive and marketing power added to British trading domination.
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Sri Lanka and Ceylon Tea
The production of black tea in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) began when the cultivation of coffee was replaced by tea after the coffee crop was destroyed by a devastating fungus.
Until 1971, most of the tea companies in Sri Lanka were British-owned but ownership after the Land Reform Act was shifted to divide the business between state-owned and private companies.
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Tea Comes to America
In 1650, the Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant brought tea to the American colonists in New Amsterdam, later called New York. Soon the colonists were drinking more tea than all England.
It was not until 1670 that English colonists in Boston became aware of tea, and it was not publicly available for sale until twenty years later. Tea Gardens were first opened in New York City,
By 1720 tea was a generally accepted staple of trade between the Colony and the Mother country.
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Tea and the American Revolution
England had recently completed the French and Indian War, fought, from England's point of view, to free the colony from French influence and stabilize trade.
It was the feeling of Parliament that as a result, it was not unreasonable that the colonists shoulder the majority of the cost in the form of taxes since the war had been fought for their benefit.
Taxes, and the power to tax helped kindl what was to become the American Revolution.
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The Boston Tea Party
By December 16, 1775 the relationship between Britain and the colonies had deteriorated enough that the men of Boston, dressed as Indians colonists threw hundreds of pounds of tea into the harbor. The event went down in history as The Boston Tea Party.
The rebellious act was a culmination of rebellion movement with such leading citizens as Samuel Adams and John Hancock taking part. Britain, in retaliation, closed the port of Boston and the city was occupied by British troops. The colonial leaders met and revolution was declared.
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Iced Tea and Tea Bags
A tea plantation owner introduced iced tea to the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.
The tea bag was a unique way to serve tea.The tea bag was neat and convenient and in a socirty where convenience was king, became instantly popular in the United States. .
Quickly, a tea company patented the tea bag. Thomas J. Lipton was responsible for designing a four-sided tea he dubbed the 'flo-thru' tea bag, which allowed tea to steep more quickly in the cup than the customary two-sided bag.
But because the tea bag restricted the brewing space, lower grades of cheaper fannings were used and only one infusion was possible.
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Tea and the British Empire
Great Britain was the last of the three great sea-faring nations to break into the Chinese and East Indian trade routes. This was due in part to the unsteady ascension to the throne of the Stuarts and the Cromwellian Civil War.
The first samples of tea reached England between 1652 and 1654. Tea quickly proved popular enough to replace ale as the national drink of England.
As in Holland, it was the nobility that provided the necessary stamp of approval and so insured its acceptance. As early as 1600 Elizabeth I had founded the John company for the purpose of promoting Asian trade. Suddenly, the John Company had a base of operations.
At one point, England even gave The John Company the power to not only import tea but to coin its own money, make peace, declare war and other privileges previously only held by countries.
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Hong Kong and The Opium Wars
Originally, tea traders established warehouses and offices in Canton province based in mainland China. Many traders, particularly those from Britain found this a very unsatisfactory arrangement. Not only were language and restrictive trade regulations a problem, but so was the currency. Vast sums of money were spent on tea. To take such large amounts of money physically out of England would have financially collapsed the country and been impossible to transport safely half way around the world.
With plantations in newly occupied India, the John Company saw a solution. In India they could grow the inexpensive crop of opium and use it as a means of exchange. Because of its addictive nature, the demand for the drug would be lifelong, insuring an unending market.
Chinese emperors tried to maintain the forced distance between the Chinese people and the "foreign devils". The Opium Wars broke out with the English ready to go to war for free trade (their right to sell opium). The British had superior military technology and tactics and, not only was the right to keep selling opium maintained but the Chinese were forced to cede Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories to the British.
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Afternoon Tea in England
Tea mania swept across England as it had earlier spread throughout France and Holland. Tea importation rose from 40,000 pounds in 1699 to an annual average of 240,000 pounds by 1708. Tea was drunk by all levels of society.
In order to maintain this growth, more aggressive marketing and new channels of distribution were required.
Tea and tea service became part of the British meal regimen aand serving rituals that added tea to the main meal developed.
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English Coffee Houses Added Tea to the Menu
Tea was the major beverage served in the coffee houses, but they were so named because coffee arrived in England some years before tea.
Catering to a male clientèle exclusively, coffee houses serving tea were called "Penny Universities" because for a penny any man could obtain a pot of tea, a copy of the newspaper, and conduct business in a conducive environment
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The British developed the idea of Tea Gardens. Here ladies and gentlemen took their tea out of doors surrounded by entertainment such as orchestras and other forms of entertainment
Women were permitted to enter a mixed, public gathering for the first time without social criticism. As the gardens were public, British society mixed here freely for the first time, cutting across lines of class and birth.
The growth of establishments like tea gardens and coffee houses that served tea helped to expand an already robust market.
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Global Tea Plantations develop
The Scottish botanist/adventurer Robert Fortune, who spoke fluent Chinese, was able to sneak into mainland China the first year after the Opium War.
He obtained some of the closely guarded tea seeds and made notes on tea cultivation. With support from the Crown, various experiments in growing tea in India were attempted.
After a number of false starts the tea production equation was finally mastered and the great English tea marketing companies were founded and production mechanized as the world industrialized in the late 1880's.
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America Enters The Tea Trade
As an aggressive trading nation, America began direct trade with China soon after the Revolution was over in 1789.
America's newer, faster clipper ships outsailed the slower, heavier English "tea wagons" that had until then dominated the trade. This forced the English navy to update their fleet, a fact America would have to address in the War of 1812.
The new American ships established sailing records that still stand for speed and distance. American traders refused to pay for tea with Opium - preferring to pay in gold bullion which was produced in ample quantities in American Gold fields.. America was able to break the English tea monopoly because its ships were faster and America paid in gold.
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Tea in Russia and The Soviet Union
The Russian Empire shared a common unofficial border with China and it is quite likely that merchants and caravans included tea as merchandise for trade. These trade contacts would soon yield more official diplomatic contacts The Russian tea involvement began officially as early as 1618 when chests of tea were presented by the Chinese Embassy in Moscow to Czar Alexis.
By 1689 the Trade Treaty of Newchinsk established a common border between Russia and China. Trade caravans, always subject to bandit and brigand attacks were now more easily abls to then cross back and forth freely.
The uniqueness of the Russian culture is reflected in the way they consumed tea. The Russians have always favored strong tea highly sweetened with sugar, honey, or jam and in this form tea became embedded in Russian life in a way that would survive the Emperors and later the communists.
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The Clipper Days
By the mid-1800's the world was involved in a global clipper race as nations competed with each other to claim the fastest ships. England and America were the leading rivals.
Each year the clipper ships would race from China to the Tea Exchange in London to bring in the first tea for auction. Clipper ships competed aggressively and helped build the profitable tea business.
Nevertheless by 1871 the newer steamships began to replace even the fastest ships.
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Tea Rooms, Tea Courts and Tea Dances
Beginning in the late 1880's in both America and England, fine hotels began to offer tea service in tea rooms and tea courts. Served in the late afternoon, Victorian ladies (and their gentlemen friends) could meet for tea and conversation.
Many of these tea services became the hallmark of the elegance of the hotel, such as the tea services at the Ritz (Boston) and the Plaza (New York).
The History of Tea Ware: Tea Cups and Mugs, Tea Kettles and Tea Pots
For full enjoyment of the tea experience, tea drinkers throughout history developed tea ware that included specialized pots, cups, mugs and other paraphenalia that enhanced the flavor of tea and made tea drinking a special event.
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