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A Short History of Tea
Tea's Origins
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Silver Samovar, 1801
Gift of George Lee-Warner
AGGV 83.18.1.1 a-e |
Tea seems an essentially humble commodity. A commodity because it is among those items produced in distant places, traded in a marketplace where its value is assessed and, finally, packaged for sale in a supermarket. It seems humble because in most varieties it is relatively inexpensive and widely available.
Occasionally we may wonder at the variety of tea that is available; Darjeeling, Oolong, Chinese green tea, English breakfast, Orange Pekoe and Earl Grey among them but rarely are we offered the opportunity of learning how rich and varied the history of tea is, the conflicts it has caused, and the breadth of its cultural effects.
Tea is generally acknowledged as having been discovered in China in the year 2737 BCE by the Emperor Shen Nung. The story about the discovery paints it as an accidental one, but one nonetheless significant because this Emperor is regarded as being particularly saintly, and among his many admired qualities, he is credited with having uncovered the healing qualities of many herbs that have extensive use in Chinese medicine.
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Fugai, Ekun Bodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi on a Reed, 1625 c
ink on paper
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. R. W. Finlayson, Toronto
AGGV 79.2 |
In the tea story, the Emperor sits in wait while water is boiled for his consumption; a few leaves from a nearby tea bush are set free by a gust of wind, are swirled up and charred in an open flame and land eventually in the open cauldron of water. The Emperor, tempted by the aroma emitted, insists on tasting the drink and is so taken by its crisp, astringent taste that he both adopts it in his healthful regime and recommends it to others.
It is widely accepted that China is the center of the discovery of tea, and its later popularity in other regions gave impetus to the development of alternative creationist myths. It is believed that while in China, the Indian sage Bodhidharma, nearing the end of a five year contemplation on the perfection of Buddha, was able to hold off sleep by chewing on leaves found on a nearby tea bush. In the Japanese myth involving the same character, known in Japanese as Daruma, the sage cuts off his own eyelids to fight off sleep and throws them away. He is then astonished to discover that they sprout up as tea plants.
The significance of tea is shown by the very fact that these tales exist while similar tales about the origin of wine, for example, do not.
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