History of Tea

First Discovery
The story of tea began about 5,000 years ago in ancient China. According to legend, the Shen Nong, an early emperor was a skilled ruler, creative scientist and patron of the arts. One summer day, while traveling, he and the court stopped to rest and the servants began to boil water to drink. Dried leaves from the near by bush fell into the boiling water and a liquid became brown. Being scientist, the Emperor was interested in the new liquid, tasted some and found it very refreshing. And so, tea was created.

From the earliest times tea was renowned for its properties as a healthy, refreshing drink. The modern term "tea" derives from early Chinese dialect words - such as Tchai, Cha and Tay - used both to describe the beverage and the leaf. Known as Camellia sinensis, tea is an evergreen plant of the Camellia family. It has smooth, shiny pointed leaves, which look similar to the privet hedge leaf found in British gardens.

Very early tea cups had no handles, being originally imported from China where such cups traditionally had no handles. So as tea drinking gained popularity, so did the demand for more British-style tea ware. This fuelled the rapid growth of the English pottery and porcelain industry, which soon became world famous. Most factories making tea ware were located in the Midlands area, which became known as "The Potteries".

Asian Influence

Chinese Influence
Tea consumption spread throughout the Chinese culture reaching into every aspect of the society. In 800 A.D. Lu Yu wrote the first definitive book on tea. The vast definitive nature of his work projected him into near sainthood within his own lifetime. It was this form of tea service that Zen Buddhist missionaries would later introduce to imperial Japan.

Japanese Influence
The first tea seeds were brought to Japan by the returning Buddhist priest, who had seen the value of tea in China. As a result, he is known as the "Father of Tea" in Japan. Tea received almost instant imperial sponsorship and spread rapidly from the royal court and monasteries to the other sections of Japanese society.

Tea was elevated to an art form resulting in the creation of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The best description of this complex art form was probably written by the Irish-Greek journalist-historian: "The Tea ceremony requires years of training and practice to graduate in art...yet the whole of this art, as to its detail, signifies no more than the making and serving of a cup of tea. The supremely important matter is that the act be performed in the most perfect, most polite, most graceful, most charming manner possible".

A special form of architecture (chaseki) developed for "tea houses", based on the duplication of the simplicity of a forest cottage. The artistic Japanese hostesses, the Geishi, began to specialize in the presentation of the tea ceremony. More and more people became involved in the excitement surrounding tea. The tea ceremony became corrupted, boisterous and highly embellished. "Tea Tournaments" were held among the wealthy where nobles competed among each other for rich prizes in naming various tea blends.