16/02/2022
At present, tea is a well-known and popular drink in all corners of the Earth. It is drunk in Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Australia. Throughout the history of tea distribution, residents of various countries have been studying its properties, forming their own traditions of its preparation and use.
History of tea
The discovery of tea is attributed to the Chinese emperor and father of Chinese medicine, Shen Nong, who lived in China around 2700 BC. He had extensive knowledge in the field of medicinal medicines.
There is an opinion that the history of tea began at the moment when Shen Long, tired from work, decided to boil water on a fire and did not notice how the leaves from the tree fell into it. After drinking the brewed drink, he felt cheerfulness and a surge of strength, warmth spread over his body, as if testing every part of his body. Then he realized that he had found a new healing agent and decided to better study its properties.
After this discovery, the Chinese began to actively study tea plants and grow them. A little later in China, the word tea got its own hieroglyph, which is pronounced “cha” and is made in the form of a tree with flowers, leaves and a person between them. This hieroglyph denotes the harmony of man with nature.
The earliest manuscripts with a mention of tea, dated 1115 BC, in which the Chinese prince Zhou Gong described tea, have survived. He noted that this drink tastes bitter, when a person drinks it, he thinks better, he wants to sleep less, the body becomes lighter, and vision clears up.
In the era of the Zhou Dynasty 10045 to 221 BC, the Chinese drank wine, tinctures and decoctions, among which was tea. In those days, people used tea as a medicine.
A little later in the Han era from 206 BC to 220 AD, tea becomes a common commodity in the Chinese market, especially in modern Sichuan, it becomes popular among all segments of the population.
After the Tang era, which lasted from 618 to 907, the tea industry in China developed rapidly: new technologies for growing and processing tea leaves appeared. Tea has become an integral part of Chinese culture. This drink was sung in songs and poems, depicted in paintings and drawings. Farmers presented the emperor himself with their best varieties of tea as a gift.
In the Qin era from 1644 to 1911, Emperor Qian Long studied and collected various varieties of tea, examined the quality of water, and collected tea utensils. Once he said: "The Sovereign even one day cannot do without tea." That's how important tea has been and still is in China.
Over time, tea is also known outside of China. First of all, tea reaches Japan, where it immediately becomes a precious drink. Then tea is brought to Korea and the Middle East. In Europe, they learned about tea only in the 16th century, and there, too, it almost immediately gained wide popularity and became a favorite drink. Let's take a closer look at the history of the spread of tea outside of China.