A (very) Brief History of Tea

From 10/28/10

A (very) Brief History of Tea

Part 1 – Made in China

Tea has been around a long time. Most people in the U.S., when they think of tea (if they do), will place tea in the context of Victorian England such as tea and crumpets; or the colonization of the United States such as Boston Tea Party and so forth. The more enlightened among us may be aware of the connection to the Orient, remembering the Tea Ceremony in the Karate Kid Part II perhaps. Tea however has roots much further back than most can imagine.

The popular myth surrounding the origin of Tea begins with the Second Emperor of China, Shen Nung, who as it happens is also credited with inventing agriculture and medicine. The legend goes that sometime around 2737 B.C. while drinking a pot of boiled water, some leaves from a nearby tree fell into the pot. Being pleased with the color and aroma, he tasted it. Finding the taste delightful, he drank it and was surprised by it’s restorative properties.

There are a couple things about this legend I’d like to point out. First, 2737 B.C. was a long time ago. A really long time ago. Some perspective: Stonehenge was brand-spanking new; The Great Pyramids of Egypt were just getting a little age on them (5 or six hundred years or so; The people in Europe were just learning to make pottery and the like; and in the Americas, the inhabitants were still in the Stone Age. Second, how thirsty do you have to be to drink your water after something has fallen in it? These days’ foreign objects floating in your drink will get it sent back to the kitchen. But I digress…

Whether the legend is true or not, the fact is that tea has been consumed in China for thousands of years, with some records referring to Tea dating back to the 10^th Century B.C. A book called “A Contract With a Servant”, written in 59 B.C. by Wang Bao, contained instructions on buying and preparing Tea. By this time, although an extravagance of the Chinese elite, Tea had become a part of the diet and appears to have been a valuable commodity.

During the Tang Dynasty, around 760 A.D., Chinese writer Lu Yu wrote the Cha Jing, or the Classic of Tea. This book was one of the earliest treatises on the production of tea, from cultivating the plants to preparing the beverage. Unlike today, Tea was produced in bricks, rather than in leaf form. This simplified, or perhaps even encouraged, the use of Tea as currency. Traditional currency, such as coins, became less and less valuable as one travelled further and further from the center of the Empire.

In the mid 13^th Century, a new method of preparation emerged. For centuries, tea leaves had been steamed and compressed. During the Sung Dynasty, Tea leaves were roasted and then crumbled, creating the ancestor of today’s Loose Leaf Teas.

A (very) Brief History of Tea

Part 2 – I Think I’m Turning Japanese

Tea was pretty much solely a Chinese thing for the better part of 3000 years. While some of this might be attributed to them wanting to keep it for themselves, the fact that trans-oceanic travel was at the very least, difficult, certainly played a part. So while Tea certainly has a longer history in China, no less important is the influence that Japan has had on the evolution of Tea.

Tea seems to have been introduced to Japan twice. The first known reference to Tea appears in a text written by a Buddhist monk in the 9^th century. At the time ‘brick tea’ was popular in China, and it’s likely that this is what made it to Japan. According to ancient writings, tea seeds were brought into Japan by a Buddhist monk, Saicho, in 805. Saicho is credited with founding the Tendai school of Buddhism. Another monk, Kukai, also brought seeds back from China in 806.

In 1191, the famous Zen priest Esai returned to Kyoto with tea seeds from China. In 1211 he wrote the two volume ‘Kissa Yojoki’ or ‘How to Stay Healthy by Drinking Tea’. The first line of the book reads: “Tea is the ultimate mental and medical remedy and has the ability to make one's life more full and complete". Quite an endorsement. Another story of legend is how he introduced Tea into the Samurai, or warrior class. In 1214 it seems a Shogun had a habit of drinking too much in the evenings. Esai presented the Shogun with a book he had written espousing the health benefits of drinking tea. Soon after, the custom of drinking tea became popular with the Samurai.

The Tea Culture of Japan emerged over the course of centuries and evolved from being prepared as part of Buddhist rituals, to being consumed by the Samurai and upper class and ultimately filtering into all levels of Japanese society. By the 16^th century, the ‘Way of Tea’ or chado had been established by Sen Rikyu, still regarded and revered figure in Tea Ceremony. The principles of harmony, purity, respect and tranquility are still central to Tea Ceremony.

It is interesting to note that only green Tea is produced in Japan, although there are several varieties: Sencha, the most common in everyday life; Bancha, a simpler form of Sencha, very rarely exported; Gyokuro, what you might call the elite Sencha; Houjicha, which is a baked Sencha; Genmaicha, a Sencha combined with toasted rice; and finally, Matcha, the most revered Tea. This is the tea used for Tea Ceremony, and is a powdered green Tea. You’ll notice that all of the Tea names end in ‘cha’; Cha is the Japanese word for Tea.

The history of Tea in Japan is an interesting and complex one, and this simplistic attempt to introduce you to it hopefully will inspire you to further exploration. The ‘Book of Tea’, written by Okakura Kakuzo and first published in 1906, is an excellent treatise on the development of the Tea Culture in Japan.

A (very) Brief History of Tea

Part 3 – Dutch Treat.

The world conquest of Tea began in earnest in the early 1600’s. By this time, it was fairly common knowledge that in fact the world was not flat, and that there were other cultures out there willing to trade. This coupled with the advancement of various navies created sea-borne trade routes from Europe to nearly all corners of the globe.

Tea remained in the East until the Dutch arrived in Amsterdam with the first cargo load of Tea in 1606. The East Indies Company, a Dutch establishment who had a monopoly on trade with Asia, had close ties to exporters in China. Even after the forming of the East India Company in England in 1615, the Dutch maintained a monopoly on the Tea trade until the 1670’s. During this time, drinking Tea became popular in Holland, and by 1650 was introduced in New Amsterdam, later known as New York, in the New World. In 1636, Tea was introduced in France and quickly became an indulgence of the upper class.

In 1618, Tea was presented to the Tsar of Russia by envoys from China. It again became popular with the upper class. Tea was brought to Russia by a land route from China, a trek of over 6000 miles which could take over a year. This of course made tea quite sought after and expensive, keeping it out of the hands of the masses. It is with the trade route from China to Russia, who shared a border, that Tea was introduced to Europe a second time.

Tea made its appearance in England in 1657, being sold at Garraway’s Coffee House. It was promoted as a wholesome drink, promising to help everything from eyesight to extending one’s life, while also claiming that "it could make the body active and lusty." In today’s world, this would surely be advertised on late night television with some whistling geek getting all the girls.

Interestingly, Tea was initially met with some resistance in England with some making the claim that drinking Tea caused men to become shorter and ill tempered and women to lose their looks. With ale and gin being the more popular drinks of the time, I’m sure competition was not looked on favorably. While this is pure speculation, I imagine that back then, as now, drinking alcohol surely made everyone tall, invincible and good-looking, so drinking anything else was sure to have the opposite effect.

By the 1670’s England was beginning to import Tea on a commercial scale. It was still very expensive as well as quite heavily taxed (reaching an absurd 119% by the mid 1700’s) and spawned a whole new industry, Tea smuggling. Dutch ships would anchor offshore and unload the precious cargo into fishing boats which transported it to hiding places ashore. The smuggling business was profitable, and as such invariably led to greed. Tea started to become mixed with other types of leaves that were locally available, such as willow, as well as drying used Tea and re-mixing it. This practice was made illegal and punishable by the Food and Drug Act of 1875.

Since its introduction to America in 1650 Tea continued to grow in popularity and by the late 1700’s had become the most valuable and largest export to the colonies. Again, due to its popularity, greed took over and exorbitant duties were imposed on its import. This rankled the locals causing events which ultimately led to the Boston Tea Party and the Revolutionary War. Perhaps it also explains the popularity of coffee in the New World.

Tea is now worldwide of course and with nearly four million tons was harvested in 2009 is the second most consumed beverage on the planet, second only to water. While it is still primarily grown in only a few countries, its influence is still felt worldwide.