TEA & TRADEA History of Tea & Trade from 2700 BCE to 19th Century CE

ORIGIN OF TEA

The exact origin of tea (Camellia sinensis) is somewhere east of the Himalayans, probably in present day China or India (1)

Some suggest tea was consumed by Homo Erectus as early as 500,000 years ago (2)

The most popular legend regarding the origin of tea dates to about 2700BCE in China (2)(3)

Shen Nung, the second emperor of China and known as the father of traditional Chinese medicine, was boiling water when a wind blew some tea leaves into the kettle

Shen Nung tried the drink and found it to make him cheerful and energetic

He gathered more leaves, brought them home and tea spread from there (where is there?)

Shen Nung at the mouth of a cave. (Wikimedia Commons, Wellcome Images, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Watercolour;_Shen_Nung_Wellcome_V0018486.jpg).

EARLY REFERENCES TO TEADifficult to determine first reference to tea, as different Chinese characters may have been used to refer to tea (4)

One reference comes from Shijing (Book of Odes), edited by Confucius (c. 550-478BCE) (2)

Ode Ten used the character t’u, which likely referred to not only tea, but other medicinal plants as well

By the 3rd Century CE, references to tea are more credible and common (2)

Oolong tea leaves showing the Chinese character for tea. (Wikimedia Commons,

Toby Oxborrow, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oolong_tea_leaves_-_character_for_tea_in_Chinese.jpg

).

SPREAD OF TEA1st Century CE to 6th Century CE

Knowledge and consumption of tea spreads along the Yangtze and Mekong rivers throughout these centuries, first being traded in Sichuan (4) (5) (6)

Monks spurred the cultivation and spread of tea, where it was embraced by Taoists and Buddhists alike (1) (5)

Tea is first cultivated in China during the time of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-535 CE) (2)

Tea is used mainly for medicinal purposes in China through the 5th Century (2)

Knowledge and consumption of tea spreads along the Yangtze river valley throughout these centuries (4)

By the time of the Southern Dynasty (420-478 CE) peasants are required to pay a “tea tribute” to the imperial court (2)

China is trading tea with Tibet by the end of the 5th Century and with Japan by the end of the 6th Century (6)

TEA HORSE ROAD

The Tea Horse Road is a network of roads, sometimes called the Southwest Silk Road (5)

The network links Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet, Southeast Asia, India and Nepal

A variety of goods were traded along the network, but the name comes from the exchange of tea from China (desired by Tibetans) for horses from Tibet (desired by the Chinese Imperial Army)

Tea Horse Road Map, from Tea Horse Road: China's Ancient Trade Road to Tibet.

QUICK WRITE

Respond to the following questions on a piece of pa-per:

• Describe the physical geography through which Tea Horse Road’s 3,000 miles winds. Include a de-scription of physical features, climate and ecosys-tem in your response.

• How might physical geography have been a help or a hindrance to the transport of tea? Sup-port your answer, making specific references to the area’s physical geography.

SPREAD OF TEA7th Century CE to 11th Century CE

By the time of the Tang dynasty (609-907AD), tea is China’s most desired beverage (4)

Lu Yu (733-804) writes The Classic of Tea during the Tang period and is remembered as “the sage of tea”, “the father of tea” and even the “deity of tea” (2) (7)

The subsequent Song dynasty (960-1126AD) imposes a monopoly on tea trade and establishes the Tea and Horse Agency with the intent of using Sichuan tea to purchase Tibetan war horses (4)

Under the Song dynasty, tea production moves from interior Sichuan to Fujian, on China’s southeast coast (4)

A portrait of Lu Yu. (Wikimedia Commons, http://tinyurl.com/obfuf7r).

SPREAD OF TEA12th Century CE to 16th Century CE

By the 12th Century, 1/3 of China’s prefectures are growing tea (4)

The Tea Horse Road allows China to trade over land with Tibet, Mongolia, Central Asia, Iran and eventually Russia (4)

Although tea had been brought to Japan from China via ship in 804AD, it was not until the 12th Century that tea drinking and tea culture begin to flourish (4)

Tang Dynasty painting showing 12 noble ladies drinking tea together. (Wikimedia Commons, Huizong of Song,) http://tinyurl.com/ncdn6nt).

SPREAD OF TEA17th Century CE

Tea first makes its way to Europe in the early 17th Century and eventually from there around the world by sea (8)

Records point to tea arriving first in Amsterdam in 1610, via Japan, then spreading to France in the 1630s and Britain in 1657 (1)

1669 engraving of Dejima Island, Nagasaki, Japan, the sole location of foreign trade during Japan’s Edo Period. (Wikimedia Commons, Arnold Montanus, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Dejima#/media/File:Dejima_arnoldus_montanus_1669.jpg).

SPREAD OF TEA17th Century CE to 19th Century CE

Read “Tea Consumers, Tea Trade, and Colonial Cultivation” and complete the accompanying Key Word Notes assignment Porters in Sichuan, China, in 1908 carry loads

of tea. (Wikimedia Commons, Ernest Henry Wilson, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Men_Laden_With_Tea,_Sichuan_Sheng,_China_1908_Ernest_H._Wilson_RESTORED.jpg).

RESOURCES

(1) Macfarlane, Alan, and Iris Macfarlane. The Empire of Tea: The Remarkable History of the Plant That Took over the World. New York: Overlook, 2004. Print.

(2) Martin, Laura C. Tea: The Drink That Changed the World. Tokyo: Tuttle Pub., 2007. Print.

(3) Hohenegger, Beatrice. Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West. New York: St. Martin's, 2006. Print.

(4) Mair, Victor H., and Erling Hoh. The True History of Tea. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2009. Print.

(5) Freeman, Michael, and Selena Ahmed. Tea Horse Road: China's Ancient Trade Road to Tibet. Bangkok: River, 2011. Print.

(6) "Tea Trades Worldwide." Tea Trades Worldwide. Web. 25 June 2015. <http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/ce/Museum/Arts/7thingsabouttea/en/ch4_1_0.htm>.

(7) Yun, Ling. Chinese Tea. New York: Better Link, 2010. Print.

(8) Breed, Thomas. "Tea Consumers, Tea Trade, and Colonial Cultivation | University of Minnesota Libraries." Tea Consumers, Tea Trade, and Colonial Cultivation | University of Minnesota Libraries. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. <https://www.lib.umn.edu/bell/tradeproducts/tea>.