China is the home of tea. The history of tea in China is long and complex, for 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 flavour.
Tea has become one of the three major non-alcoholic drinks in the world. As the origin of tea, every Chinese is proud of it.
For Chinese people, tea is not only a drink, but also a spiritual symbol of peaceful and meditation. After thousands of years, tea has penetrated into every aspect of Chinese life.
The development of tea
- 1.Shennong, about 5000 years ago, the Chinese emperor Shennong found tea, and boiled tea as a medicinal beverage.
- 2.Zhou Dynasty, about 3000 years ago, Chinese started to plant tea tree, and eat tea leaf as vegetables.
- 3.Qin Dynasty, about 2300 years ago, the Chinese started to drink tea soup
- 4.Han Dynasty, about 2200 years ago, tea became commercially. ChengDu is the first area to sale tea. And tea cakes were invented for easier transportation.
- 5.Tang Dynasty 618-907 A.D., a scholar named Lu Yu published the first definitive tea book «Cha Jing» on tea, after he spent over twenty years studying on teas. This documentation included his knowledge of planting, processing, tasting, and brewing tea. His research helped to elevate tea drinking to a high status throughout China. This was when the art of tea drinking was born. And by 900A.D. tea drinking started to spread from China to Japan.
- 6.Song Dynasty 960-1279 A.D., the emperors helped the spread of tea consumption further. And tea was a major export good, through the Silk Road which were spread to Arab counties and Africa.
- 7.Yuan Dynasty 1206-1368 A.D., loos leaf teas were invented
- 8.Ming Dynasty 1368-1644 A.D., the technology of tea production continuously advanced to become more simplified and to improve the methods of enhancing tea flavor. During this period, tea houses and other tea-drinking establishments were opening up all over China. Teas were introduced to Russia and Europe.
- 9.Qing Dynasty, 370 years ago, Chinese tea became popular all over the world, At that time, China is the only exported country.
- 10.Modern times
- 1)1846-1886 was the prosperous period of Chinese tea. The area of tea gardens continued to expand, and the production of tea was rapidly increased, which effectively promoted the development of foreign trade.
- 2)1886-1947 is the decline of Chinese tea production, political, economic, international tea market competition failed
- 3)1950-1988 it was the period of recovery and development of tea production in China. The government supported to the restoration of old tea gardens, the establishment of new tea gardens, the improvement of new varieties, the promotion of scientific tea cultivation, and the steady development of tea economy.
- 11.Present