Tea Trivia

Origin of Tea

The origin of tea begins with a fascinating Chinese Legend that takes us back to the year 2737 B.C. According to the legend, Emperor Shen Nung - a scholar and herbalist whose farsighted edicts included drinking only boiled water for the sake of hygiene, stopped to rest under a wild tree while on a visit to a distant region of his kingdom. A slight breeze caused a few leaves to fall into the water he was boiling. The Emperor, true to his inquisitive nature went ahead tasting the resulting brew and to his surprise found it to be very refreshing and revitalising. Thus was discovered tea.

Whether myth or reality, the truth remains lost in ancient history. Fact is that China was far from a unified empire until the third century B.C., making it highly improbable for an emperor to have existed during the period referred to. Yet it is an accepted knowledge that tea was indeed popular in China all those years ago. Tea consumption had spread throughout the Chinese culture, reaching into every aspect of the society. The first written reference on tea is however credited to the third century B.C. when a famous Chinese surgeon recommended it as a remedy and in another instance, it finds mention in an army General's letter to his nephew.

This reference in ancient records is also a cause of confusion as the same Chinese character was used for both the tea and sow thistles, with the only difference being that of pronunciation. Thanks to the decree of an Emperor of the Han Dynasty, sometime between 206 B.C. and A.D. 220, which said that when referring to tea, the character should be pronounced as 'cha'. It was only from the 8th century onwards that tea got its own character.

From the fourth and fifth century onwards the popularity of tea started to grow throughout China with an increasing number of plantations cropping up around the Yangtze River valley. The popularity saw it being presented as gifts to emperors and soon appeared in barter trade with the Turks.

The transformation of tea from a medicinal tonic to that of a refreshing drink consumed for its own sake occurred during the reign of the Tang Dynasty (A.D 618-906). This period, popularly referred to as the 'golden age' of tea, saw the beginnings of a standard to the cultivation of tea, which became something of an elaborate ceremony. Strict rules were set as to the plucking of the leaf including a rule that allowed only young girls who were to follow a diet that forbade pungent food that could contaminate the leaves.