History of Tea in Japan and the Japanese Tea Ceremony Essay

“This was the routine of the old China trade. These were the commodities traditionally brought to China and traditionally carried away. And at the heart of the trade was tea. It came from no other place. India did not then produce any, nor Ceylon, Java, or Formosa; Japan was inaccessible; the world perforce drank China teas. Above all, the English drank them” (17).

Saberi, H. (2010). Tea Comes to the West. In Tea:A Global History. [Adobe Digital Editions Version]. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/

Tea: Tea began as a luxury drink, and then trickled down to become the beverage of the working man. The story of tea is the story of imperialism, industrialization, and world domination. According to Chinese tradition, the first cup of tea was brewed by the emperor Shen Nung. Before tea was a beverage, it was used for medicinal purposes and foodstuff. Tea became a daily drink in China around the third century A.D. As the Industrial Revolution of 18th and 19th centuries gained steam, tea provided some of the fuel. Factory workers stayed alert during long, monotonous shifts thanks to welcome tea breaks. The beverage also had unintended health benefits for rapidly growing urban areas. Chewing leaves and rubbing them on wounds were ways that tea was used for medicinal purposes.

What did the Tea Act Say? How did it impact the colonist and the East India Company? What is a monopoly and are they good or bad for consumers? How so?

In the late sixteenth- century Europe adopted a caffeinated warm drink for the first time this included chocolate, tea and coffee. Tea fills the senses with a bittersweet scent. This herb came from china by ship. Unlike cider and beer tea was new to the English-speaking world (49). Starting in the eighteenth- century Europe trading companies began to market green and black tea (51). Before this time period tea was very rare in the west region of British north America. Only the wealthy could originally afford tea and sugar. Tea was also used as a source of herbal medicine rather than traditional methods. This herb was also expensive because it shipped across great distances and allowed the East India Company to charge higher prices and labor added an extra charge. This resulted in tea becoming a luxury item in the colonies (53). The Townshend’s act in 1767 put a tax on tea which Americans responded that parliament could not tax without their consent. This frustrated the colonist because it put their love for tea at risk, so they responded to parliament by aiming at British merchants and manufactures

The Tea that reach America from china inspired new addictions, new trade connections and new forms of luxury, new social critiques and simmering provincial inferiority. Many caffeinated drinks had come before the tea however this was a new drink to the English-speaking world. Nevertheless, this drink did not come without its own problems (50).

The origins of tea are rooted in China (Food Timeline). According to legend, the beneficial properties of tea were first discovered by the Emperor Shen Nung in the year 2737 B.C. He drank only boiled water for hygienic purposes, and one day while he drank a breeze rustled the branches of a tree and a few leaves fell into his cup. Creating the first cup of tea. It is challenging to know whether or not the emperor was real or just a part of the spiritual and cultural development of ancient China. China was not unified as an empire until the third century, so it is unlikely emperors existed back then. One thing that is known is that tea was popular in China thousands of years ago. The first written reference of tea is in the third century B.C. A famous surgeon recommended the beverage to patients to increase concentration and alertness. Tea was first written as “tu” in ancient texts. This caused a good deal of confusion because the same Chinese character was used for both tea and Chinese sow thistles. Between 206 B.C. and A.D. 220 a Han Dynasty emperor ruled that when referring to tea, the characters should be pronounced as “cha”. From here on, tracing tea’s history became easier because tea acquired its own individual character (Food Timeline).

Tea became popular for British royalty because of Catherine of Braganza. Catherine was a devout tea drinker and married Charles II. With that marriage came a dowry that included a chest of tea. This was popular with upper class England because

It also served as a food stuff, until it became a drink. According to Monks ( Buddhist) tea help with meditation, so it play an important part in Buddhism. Tea was used socially, people in both China and Japan, also in England would gather together for tea parties. While at these tea parties, people would have enjoy a cup of tea which helped the mind to stimulate intellectual conversations and debates. People drank a lot of tea because it help prevent waterborne disease. It served as a the main trade for China and Japan.

Tea, known to Asia as a luxury used for medicinal purposes, became a way of life for Europeans. It served as a huge asset towards the growth of Europe and Britain’s status as a world power.

Tea, as a popular commodity good in late-Ming China, experienced the farming in tea plantations, picking through tea farmer’s hands, stir-frying in tea manufacturers’ houses, and then was bought and delivered by licensed merchants through the trade routes to tea markets. After it was sold, tea finally arrived at its destination, the places where tea would be consumed. Two types of space were mostly used by tea drinkers to enjoy their pleasure of tasting tea: tea houses (茶馆) and tea huts (茶寮). The tea house, which was originated in the Southern Song Dynasty and served for tea-drinkers from various backgrounds, continued developing in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in urban areas; however, tea connoisseurs became more and more interested

He became very animated at this point in his descriptions saying “At this point the practice of tea drinking was very elegant and a beautiful ritual to behold. It was a social custom in which certain hospitality, preparation, and serving rules had to be applied to maintain the culture.” John was especially interested in the innovations made during this tea time. He goes on to discuss how the emperor now controlled all aspects of tea cultivation and production, establishing new systems of grading leaf tea and even determining quality of the tea.” He told us tales of how only select members of a chosen class were allowed to drink certain teas, with the precious "tribute grade" teas from revered mountains reserved exclusively for the

An “ancient legend in China, is that tea was discovered accidentally by the Emperor Shen Nong in 2737 B.C.E.” According to the website, www.mightyleaf.com “The emperor was boiling water under a tree and leaves fell into the pot,” and thus the legend of how drinking tea started. According to historical documents, China is the first culture to drink tea or to utilize it in religious or cultural ceremonies. The practice of sharing tea began among family members, neighbors, and friends as a social interaction. In an early Chinese dynasty, the Emperor Song Huizong wrote about the “problems that can degrade the flavor, such as using an inferior product or improperly processed leaf.” (Hinsch 77) Even poems penned in China discussed the growing and drinking of tea.

Chen Zongmao’s book supports the whole view of my research paper. It introduces the development of tea in different historic stages, and especially focuses on the culture of tea in different time. Moreover, it states Chinese tea from all the aspects such as tea’s category, how to drink tea, how to plant etc. This book is like a tea Encyclopedia that le

Attention getter: In the East tea has always been looked at as playing a major role in having good health, happiness, and wisdom, and it has now begun to gain more attention from researchers here in the West.