History of tea in China
Encyclopedia
The history of tea in China is long and complex. The Chinese
have enjoyed tea
for millennia. Scholars hailed the brew as a cure for a variety of ailments; the nobility considered the consumption of good tea as a mark of their status, and the common people simply enjoyed its flavor.
in 2737 BCE. It is said that the emperor liked his drinking water boiled before he drank it so it would be clean, so that is what his servants did. One day, on a trip to a distant region, he and his army stopped to rest. A servant began boiling water for him to drink, and a dead leaf from the wild tea bush fell into the water. It turned a brownish color, but it was unnoticed and presented to the emperor anyway. The emperor drank it and found it very refreshing, and cha (tea) came into being.
The Erya
, a Chinese dictionary dated to the 3rd century BCE, records that an infusion of some kind of leaf was used as early as the Zhou Dynasty
(1046–256 BCE).
While historically the origin of tea
as a medicinal herb
useful for staying awake is unclear, China
is considered to have the earliest records of tea drinking, with recorded tea use in its history dating back to the first millennium BC
. The Han Dynasty
(206 BC–220 AD) used tea as medicine. The use of tea as a beverage drunk for pleasure on social occasions dates from the Tang Dynasty
(618–907 AD) or earlier.
The Tang Dynasty writer Lu Yu
's 陸羽 (729-804) Cha Jing
茶經 is an early work on the subject. (See also Tea Classics
) According to Cha Jing writing, around CE 760, tea drinking was widespread. The book describes how tea plants were grown, the leaves processed, and tea prepared as a beverage. It also describes how tea was evaluated. The book also discusses where the best tea leaves were produced.
At this time in tea's history, the nature of the beverage and style of tea preparation were quite different from the way we experience tea today. Tea leaves were processed into compressed cakes form. The dried teacake, generally called brick tea was ground in a stone mortar. Hot water was added to the powdered teacake, or the powdered teacake was boiled in earthenware kettles then consumed as a hot beverage.
A form of compressed tea referred to as white tea was being produced as far back as the Tang Dynasty
(618-907 CE). This special white tea of Tang was picked in early spring, when the tea bushes had abundant growths which resembled silver needles. These "first flushes" were used as the raw material to make the compressed tea.
, which is an anaerobic
process, but rather an enzymatic
oxidization of the polyphenols in the tea leaves, yielding theaflavin
s and thearubigin
s. When the tea leaves are dry, fermentation stops, allowing some control of the process by manipulation of the drying rate or adding water after drying. Fermentation can also be interrupted by heat, for example by steaming or dry-panning the tea leaves through a technique known as "shāqīng" (殺青) In 17th century China numerous advances were made in tea production
. In the southern part of China, tea leaves were sun dried and then half fermented, producing Oolong
or "black dragon tea." However, this method was not common in the rest of China.
The syllable 'tu' (荼) later developed into 'te' in the Fujian dialect, and later 'tea', 'te'.
The syllable 'she' (蔎) later became 'soh' in Jiangsu
province, Suleiman's 'Sakh' also came from
'she'.
The syllable "jia' (檟) later became 'cha' and 'chai' (Russia, India).
During the Sui
and Tang
dynasties, drinking tea became a widespread custom, then spread west to Tibet.
The first use of the word Cha instead of 'tu' for tea was in Lu Yu's Cha Jing, The Classic of Tea of 760 AD.
in 1796. Back then, teas were processed and distributed as loose tea that was to be steeped, and they were produced from "chaicha," a mixed-variety tea bush. They differed from other China green teas in that the white tea process did not incorporate de-enzyming by steaming or pan-firing, and the leaves were shaped. The silver needle white teas that were produced from the "chaicha" tea bushes were thin, small and did not have much silvery-white hair.
It wasn't until 1885 that specific varietals of tea bushes were selected to make "Silver Needles" and other white teas. The large, fleshy buds of the "Big White," "Small White" and "Narcissus" tea bushes were selected to make white teas and are still used today as the raw material for the production of white tea. By 1891, the large, silvery-white down-covered Silver Needle was exported, and the production of White Peony started around 1922.
was completed around 760 AD. This is more than four hundred years earlier than the first Japanese tea monograph by Eisai
No known ancient Indian monograph on tea exists.
There were about one hundred tea monographs from the Tang dynasty to Qing dynasty. This treasure
about tea culture is only beginning to attract the interest of western scholars.
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
have enjoyed tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
for millennia. Scholars hailed the brew as a cure for a variety of ailments; the nobility considered the consumption of good tea as a mark of their status, and the common people simply enjoyed its flavor.
Historical background
According to legend, tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor and inventor ShennongShennong
Shennong , which names mean "Divine Farmer", but also known as the Emperor of the Five Grains , was a legendary ruler of China and culture hero reputed to have lived some 5,000 years ago...
in 2737 BCE. It is said that the emperor liked his drinking water boiled before he drank it so it would be clean, so that is what his servants did. One day, on a trip to a distant region, he and his army stopped to rest. A servant began boiling water for him to drink, and a dead leaf from the wild tea bush fell into the water. It turned a brownish color, but it was unnoticed and presented to the emperor anyway. The emperor drank it and found it very refreshing, and cha (tea) came into being.
The Erya
Erya
The Erya is the oldest extant Chinese dictionary or Chinese encyclopedia. Bernhard Karlgren concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from" the 3rd century BC....
, a Chinese dictionary dated to the 3rd century BCE, records that an infusion of some kind of leaf was used as early as the Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
(1046–256 BCE).
While historically the origin of tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
as a medicinal herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
useful for staying awake is unclear, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
is considered to have the earliest records of tea drinking, with recorded tea use in its history dating back to the first millennium BC
1st millennium BC
The 1st millennium BC encompasses the Iron Age and sees the rise of many successive empires, and spanned from 1000 BC to 1 BC.The Neo-Assyrian Empire, followed by the Achaemenids. In Greece, Classical Antiquity begins with the colonization of Magna Graecia and peaks with the rise of Hellenism. The...
. The Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
(206 BC–220 AD) used tea as medicine. The use of tea as a beverage drunk for pleasure on social occasions dates from the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
(618–907 AD) or earlier.
Lu Yu
Lu Yu is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He is best known for his monumental book The Classic of Tea , the first definitive work on cultivating, making and drinking tea.-Biography:...
's 陸羽 (729-804) Cha Jing
The Classic of Tea
The Classic of Tea or Tea Classic is the very first monograph on tea in the world, written by Chinese writer Lu Yu between 760 CE and 780 CE during the Tang Dynasty....
茶經 is an early work on the subject. (See also Tea Classics
Tea Classics
Tea as a beverage was first consumed in China no later than the fifth century BCE. The earliest extant mention of tea in literature is in the Shih Ching or Book of Songs, written circa 550 BCE, although the ideogram used in these texts can also designate a variety of plants, such as sowthistle...
) According to Cha Jing writing, around CE 760, tea drinking was widespread. The book describes how tea plants were grown, the leaves processed, and tea prepared as a beverage. It also describes how tea was evaluated. The book also discusses where the best tea leaves were produced.
At this time in tea's history, the nature of the beverage and style of tea preparation were quite different from the way we experience tea today. Tea leaves were processed into compressed cakes form. The dried teacake, generally called brick tea was ground in a stone mortar. Hot water was added to the powdered teacake, or the powdered teacake was boiled in earthenware kettles then consumed as a hot beverage.
A form of compressed tea referred to as white tea was being produced as far back as the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
(618-907 CE). This special white tea of Tang was picked in early spring, when the tea bushes had abundant growths which resembled silver needles. These "first flushes" were used as the raw material to make the compressed tea.
Roasting and brewing
Steaming tea leaves was the primary process used for centuries in the preparation of tea. After the transition from compressed tea, the production of tea for trade and distribution changed once again. The Chinese learned to process tea in a different way in the mid-13th century. Tea leaves were roasted rather than steamed. This is the origin of today's loose teas and the practice of brewed tea.Fermentation
After cutting, tea is subjected to a so-called "fermentation." This process is not actually a fermentationFermentation (biochemistry)
Fermentation is the process of extracting energy from the oxidation of organic compounds, such as carbohydrates, using an endogenous electron acceptor, which is usually an organic compound. In contrast, respiration is where electrons are donated to an exogenous electron acceptor, such as oxygen,...
, which is an anaerobic
Anaerobic respiration
Anaerobic respiration is a form of respiration using electron acceptors other than oxygen. Although oxygen is not used as the final electron acceptor, the process still uses a respiratory electron transport chain; it is respiration without oxygen...
process, but rather an enzymatic
Enzyme
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...
oxidization of the polyphenols in the tea leaves, yielding theaflavin
Theaflavin
Theaflavin and its derivatives, known collectively as theaflavins, are antioxidant polyphenols that are formed from flavan-3-ols such as in tea leaves during the enzymatic oxidation of tea leaves, such as in black tea. Theaflavins are types of thearubigins, and are therefore reddish in color...
s and thearubigin
Thearubigin
Thearubigins are polymeric polyphenols that are formed during the enzymatic oxidation of tea leaves. Thearubigins are red in colour. Therefore a black tea gives a reddish liquor while a green or white tea gives a much clearer one...
s. When the tea leaves are dry, fermentation stops, allowing some control of the process by manipulation of the drying rate or adding water after drying. Fermentation can also be interrupted by heat, for example by steaming or dry-panning the tea leaves through a technique known as "shāqīng" (殺青) In 17th century China numerous advances were made in tea production
Tea processing
Tea processing is the method in which the leaves from the tea plant Camellia sinensis are transformed into the dried leaves for brewing tea. The categories of tea are distinguished by the processing they undergo. In its most general form, tea processing involves different manners and degree of...
. In the southern part of China, tea leaves were sun dried and then half fermented, producing Oolong
Oolong
Oolong is a traditional Chinese tea produced through a unique process including withering under the strong sun and oxidation before curling and twisting. Most oolong teas, especially those of fine quality, involve unique tea plant cultivars that are exclusively used for particular varieties...
or "black dragon tea." However, this method was not common in the rest of China.
Tea in mythology
- Lu YuLu YuLu Yu is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He is best known for his monumental book The Classic of Tea , the first definitive work on cultivating, making and drinking tea.-Biography:...
wrote in the Classic of Tea or Cha Jing (茶经), "Tea as a beverage originated with ShennongShennongShennong , which names mean "Divine Farmer", but also known as the Emperor of the Five Grains , was a legendary ruler of China and culture hero reputed to have lived some 5,000 years ago...
." - The medicine book entitled Shennong Ben Cao JingShen nong ben cao jingThe Shénnóng Běn Cǎo Jīng is a Chinese book on agriculture and medicinal plants. Its origin has been attributed to the mythical Chinese emperor Shennong, who was said to have lived around 2800 BC. Researchers hypothesize this is a compilation of oral traditions written between about 300 BC and...
(神农本草经) stated that "Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, he encountered seventy two poisons daily and used tea as an antidoteAntidoteAn antidote is a substance which can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek αντιδιδοναι antididonai, "given against"....
" - In Chinese legend, Shennong died in Tea Hill (Chaling CountyChaling CountyChaling County is a county of Hunan, China. It is under the administration of Zhuzhou city.-References:*...
), HunanHunan' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
.
Origins of the tea plant in China
- In 760 AD760Year 760 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 760 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- China :* Emperor Xuanzong is placed under house arrest...
, Lu Yu already noted: Tea is a grand tree from the South, tall from one, two, and up to several dozen Chi. Some with circumference up two meters (6.6 feet). - A. Wilson in his exploration of the south east area of China discovered tea bushes up to ten feet tall in mountains in Sichuan
- In 1939, botanists discovered a 7.5 meter (24.6 feet) wild tea tree in Wuchuang county of Guizhou province.
- In 1940, on the Old Eagle mountain of Wuchuang county, a 6.6 (21.7) meter tall wild tea tree was discovered.
- In 1957, a 12 meter (39.4 feet) wild tea tree was discovered in Cheshui county of Guizhou.
- In 1961, a one thousand seven hundred years old, thirty two meters (105 feet) tall and more than one meter (3.3 feet) diameter wild tea tree was found in the rain forest of YunnanYunnanYunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
, this is the king of tea trees. - In 1976, a 13 meter (42.3 feet) wild tea tree was found on Daozhen county, on a mountain at 1400 (4600 feet) meter elevation.
- More wild tea trees were found in the mountains of SichuanSichuan' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, YunnanYunnanYunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
,and GuizhouGuizhou' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
provincies, many of them more than ten meters tall.
Etymology
- Tea was called 'tu' (荼) (in the Chinese ancient classic Shi Jing (The book of Songs)).
- Tea was also called 'jia' (檟) in the ancient Chinese classic Er Ya compiled during the early Han Dynasty : " Jia is bitter tu". The word tu was further annotated by a Jin scholar, Guo PuGuo PuGuo Pu , courtesy name Jingchun , born in Yuncheng, Shanxi, was a Chinese writer.-Biography:Guo Pu was a Taoist mystic, geomancer, collector of strange tales, editor of old texts, and erudite commentator...
(276-324 AD): " Tu is a small plant, its leaves can be brewed into a beverage". - Tea was also called "She' (蔎) in a West Han monograph on dialect: Fang Yian.
- During the Han DynastyHan DynastyThe Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
, the word tu took on a new pronunciation, 'cha', in addition to its old pronunciation 'tu'.
The syllable 'tu' (荼) later developed into 'te' in the Fujian dialect, and later 'tea', 'te'.
The syllable 'she' (蔎) later became 'soh' in Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
province, Suleiman's 'Sakh' also came from
'she'.
The syllable "jia' (檟) later became 'cha' and 'chai' (Russia, India).
During the Sui
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....
and Tang
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
dynasties, drinking tea became a widespread custom, then spread west to Tibet.
The first use of the word Cha instead of 'tu' for tea was in Lu Yu's Cha Jing, The Classic of Tea of 760 AD.
Periods in the history of tea
- From prehistoric time to Spring and Autumn Period (221 BC) Tu was used as sacrifice for ceremony
- According to Chinese historical record, ca 1000 BC, there were already tea farms in Sichuan and Yunnan
- From end of Spring and Autumn Period to early Western Han dynasty, Tu was used as vegetable food on table
- From the historical annal "Yianzhi Chunchiu": the prime minister of Chi (547 BC-490 BC) had egg and tea food on his table.
- Xia Zhong's Treatise on Food : "Since Jin dynasty, the people of Wu (now SuzhouSuzhouSuzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
city) cooked tea leaves as food, and called it tea broth". - From the beginning of Western Han to middle Western Han, Tu was used as medicine
- From the late Western Han Dynasty to the four hundreds Kingdom Period, tea was imperial beverage
- From the Western Jin dynastyJin DynastyJin Dynasty may refer to:* Jin Dynasty , Chinese dynasty, subdivided into the Western and Eastern Jin periods* Later Jin Dynasty , one of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China.* Jin Dynasty , a Jurchen kingdom in northern China* Later Jīn Dynasty, or...
to Sui dynastySui DynastyThe Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....
, the use of tea as beverage spread in the Chinese population - From the Tang period onward, tea became one of the seventeen essentials of daily life
- During the Southern Song Dynasty a Japanese monk 李安 EisaiEisaiMyōan Eisai was a Japanese Buddhist priest, credited with bringing the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism and green tea from China to Japan. He is often known simply as Eisai Zenji , literally "Zen master Eisai"....
(Yosai): came to TiantaiTiantaiTiantai is an important school of Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. In Japan the school is known as Tendai, and in Korea it is known as Cheontae. Tiantai is also called the "Lotus School", due to its emphasis on the Lotus Sūtra as its doctrinal basis...
mountain of ZhejiangZhejiangZhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
to study ChanZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
(ZenZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
) Buddhism (1168 AD); when he returned home in 1193 AD , he brought tea from China to Japan, planted it and wrote the first Japanese book on Tea:喫茶養生記, Treatise on Drinking Tea for Health. This was the beginning of tea cultivation and tea culture in Japan - In the Song Dynasty, tea was a major export good, through the Silk Road on land and Silk Road on the sea, tea spread to Arab countries and Africa.
- In the mid ninth century, traveller Suleiman mentioned that people in China drink "Sakh", sold in cities of Empire.
- Some historians believe Marco PoloMarco PoloMarco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
encountered tea in his travel. Other historians point out that his writings fail to mention tea at all. - In 1559, Giovanni ta Ramusio mentioned "chai" in "Delle Navigatione et Viaggi," Vol 6.
- 1579, Two Russian travellers introduced Cha to Russia
Mass production of white tea
Modern-day white teas can be traced to the Qing DynastyQing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
in 1796. Back then, teas were processed and distributed as loose tea that was to be steeped, and they were produced from "chaicha," a mixed-variety tea bush. They differed from other China green teas in that the white tea process did not incorporate de-enzyming by steaming or pan-firing, and the leaves were shaped. The silver needle white teas that were produced from the "chaicha" tea bushes were thin, small and did not have much silvery-white hair.
It wasn't until 1885 that specific varietals of tea bushes were selected to make "Silver Needles" and other white teas. The large, fleshy buds of the "Big White," "Small White" and "Narcissus" tea bushes were selected to make white teas and are still used today as the raw material for the production of white tea. By 1891, the large, silvery-white down-covered Silver Needle was exported, and the production of White Peony started around 1922.
The first tea monograph
The first tea monograph Cha Jing by Tang dynasty writer Lu YuLu Yu
Lu Yu is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He is best known for his monumental book The Classic of Tea , the first definitive work on cultivating, making and drinking tea.-Biography:...
was completed around 760 AD. This is more than four hundred years earlier than the first Japanese tea monograph by Eisai
Eisai
Myōan Eisai was a Japanese Buddhist priest, credited with bringing the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism and green tea from China to Japan. He is often known simply as Eisai Zenji , literally "Zen master Eisai"....
No known ancient Indian monograph on tea exists.
There were about one hundred tea monographs from the Tang dynasty to Qing dynasty. This treasure
about tea culture is only beginning to attract the interest of western scholars.
See also
- Chinese teaChinese teaThe practice of drinking tea has had a long history in China, having originated there. The Chinese drink tea during many parts of the day such as during meals for good health or for simple pleasure.-History:...
- Lu YuLu YuLu Yu is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He is best known for his monumental book The Classic of Tea , the first definitive work on cultivating, making and drinking tea.-Biography:...
- Tea ClassicsTea ClassicsTea as a beverage was first consumed in China no later than the fifth century BCE. The earliest extant mention of tea in literature is in the Shih Ching or Book of Songs, written circa 550 BCE, although the ideogram used in these texts can also designate a variety of plants, such as sowthistle...
- Economy of the People's Republic of ChinaEconomy of the People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China ranks since 2010 as the world's second largest economy after the United States. It has been the world's fastest-growing major economy, with consistent growth rates of around 10% over the past 30 years. China is also the largest exporter and second largest importer of...
- Economic history of China (Pre-1911)
- Economic history of Modern ChinaEconomic history of modern ChinaThe economic history of modern China began with the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Following the Qing, China underwent a period of instability and disrupted economic activity. Under the Nanjing decade , China advanced several industries, in particular those related to the military, in an effort...
- Tenfu Tea MuseumTenfu Tea MuseumTenfu Tea Museum, in Zhangzhou, Fujian, China, was constructed in 2000, and finished in 2002. The museum has a total area of 13 acres. The museum consists of many displays of past tea cultures, tea processing, tea and tea ware, as well as having live tea arts culture performances.-Five...
Further reading
- Cha Jing (《茶经》), ISBN 957-763-053-7
- The Classic of Tea: Origins & Rituals (ISBN 0-88001-416-4) Lu, Yu; Carpenter, Francis Ross; New York, U.S.A.: Ecco Press. 1995
External links
- Encyclopedia Americana, Tea
- History of Tea, UK Tea Council
- Tea Clippers, UK Tea Council