Tea’s Birthplace
China is the cradle of tea. That’s where the Chinese tea tree (Camellia sinensis) was found and originated, precisely in the Yunnan province, southwest China. Yunnan’s tropical and subtropical climate, which is warm and humid, is a very suitable place for tea plants. Yunnan has many primeval forests, there are even wild tea plants that are 2,700 years old. The rest of the tea plants grown that reach the age of 800 years are also found in this place.
A legend, one of the oldest forms of documentation, relates that Shennong, who was the forerunner of agriculture and medicinal herbs, was also the inventor of tea. It is said in his book that he directly tried many herbal concoctions and used tea as an antidote when he was poisoned by the concoctions he tried. His life ended because he drank a poisonous potion and did not have time to drink the poison-killing tea causing his internal organs to become inflamed.
Chinese tea was originally used for medicinal ingredients (8th century BC). The Chinese at that time chewed tea (770 BC–476 BC) they enjoyed the pleasant taste of tea leaf juice. Tea is also often combined with various types of food and soup concoctions.
During the reign of the Han Dynasty (221 BC – 8 AD), tea began to be processed with a fairly simple processing (shaped round, dried and stored) and used as a drink by brewing and combining it with other ingredients (eg ginger) and this habit was strongly attached. with Chinese culture. Furthermore, tea is used as a tradition in entertaining guests. After the Ming Dynasty, many different types of tea were discovered and added. This popular tea was later developed in the Canton (Guangdong) and Fukien (Fujian) areas.
The habit of drinking tea has spread, even closely attached to every level of society. In 800 AD, Lu Yu wrote a book called Ch’a Ching which defines tea. Lu Yu is an orphan who was raised by a scholar Buddhist priest in one of the best monasteries in China. As a young man, he often fought the discipline of clerical education which later made him have a good eye for observation, his performance also improved from year to year. Despite this, he felt his life was empty and meaningless.
After halfway through his life, he retired for 5 years to self-isolate. With his life history and travels, he recorded various methods of growing and managing Ancient Chinese tea.