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Tea, between legend and history

The uncertain origins of tea are lost in the mist of time, to be found between the borders of China and India, but especially in countless legends that elevate it to a beverage of exceptional spiritual and medicinal virtues; a gift from the heavens.

Tea, between legend and history

According to a legend, in 2737 BC the Chinese emperor Shen Nung, was resting under the shade of a tree when the wind caused some leaves to fall in a pot of water that was being boiled for him. The resulting infusion was delicate and perfumed. The emperor loved it: tea was born.

Yet, it was only during the Tang Dynasty though (618/907 AD) that tea evolved from being a simple branch of pharmacology into a part of everyday life. The first tea treaty entitled "Cha Jing" written by Lu Yu (723/804 AD) standardizes the preparation and drinking of the beverage as well as describing in a poetic way how, while serving tea, one can find the same harmony and order that governs all things in life.

In India, another legend tells that Prince Dharma during his voyage to China to learn the teachings of Buddha, swore not to sleep during the whole period that lasted nine years. But after only three years, as he was about to fall asleep, he plucked accidentally some leaves of tea and started chewing them. He felt immediately so much stronger and more awake that he decided to use tea to help him for the rest of his trip.

In Japan, another legend is told. Bodhi Dharma after three years of continuous praying fell asleep. After he woke up, he was so angry with himself that he decided to cut his eyelids and to throw them away so that he could never fall asleep again. Some years later, in the same place a new bush was born and it was discovered that it had the property to keep people awake.

Apart from all these legends, it seems that the plant of tea (Camellia Sinensis) was originally from the Yunnan Province of China and that the art of tea drinking was developed by the Chinese first.
In Japan tea appeared a good while later, around the 7th century, when Buddhist monks brought back some seeds from China. Sen No Rikyu in the XVI century was the first great Japanese tea Master. With him tea became much more than a beverage, it became a religious experience, an art and a philosophy.

ancient Japanese tea urn

Europe discovers tea

In Europe tea arrived much later. Though it was probably the Portuguese that initially brought tea to Europe, the first registered tea cargo to arrive in a European harbor was in 1606 in Amsterdam. The Dutch East Indies Company maintained the monopoly of tea commerce for about 60 years, until England founded the famous East India Company. Incidentally, competition between the trade companies also helped developing naval engineering because of the quest for faster and faster ships.

Members of the Royal families around Europe began to drink tea and to offer it to their hosts. Its price was so high that only the aristocracy could afford to drink it. In the XVII the price for 100g of tea (around 7 shilling) was the same as the weekly salary of an average worker. But it soon became a mass product and its price slowly became more affordable. The first Englishman to promote tea was Thomas Garraway, the landlord of a London coffee house. He had put an advert in a paper that read roughly "This excellent beverage, recommended by all Chinese doctors and which the Chinese call Tcha and other nations Tay or Tee, is on sale at Sultaness Mead close to the Royal Exchanche of London". In a short period of time it became very popular among the people and soon most of the Coffee houses would be renamed as Teahouses.

The English and Dutch companies also brought tea to the new world, where it played a very important role in the history of American independence. Due to the very high taxes imposed by the British Government on tea import, the inhabitants of Boston decided in 1773 to organize a protest, during which the cargo of a vessel transporting tea was emptied in the harbor. This famous incident renamed the Boston tea party paved the way for the events that led to the American War of Independence.

By the end of the 19th Century tea was so popular and sought after that China could no longer cope with demand, and the English started to develop cultivation in other Countries, mainly India and Sri Lanka.

Tea is grown today in over 30 countries in every continent.