It's such a popular legend that if I write about the early history of tea in China without it, someone will tell the story of the accidental discovery of tea by the ancient Chinese emperor Shen Nung (2737 B.C.) into whose cup random leaves of the Camellia sinensis bush fell. I don't know where to look for the source of this legend, but it's a colorful, pleasant story that tea afficiandos know. In addition to staving off comments about the "history" of tea in China, I'm mentioning this legend to chronologically locate the following historical data. It may not actually be the first, but an early reference to tea comes from the third century A.D. In Early References to Tea Drinking in China (Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 62, No. 1 (Mar., 1942), pp. 74-76), Derk Bodde tells a story of a debauched Chinese ruler, Sun Hao, who, in A.D. 264, put to death a lightweight who tried to substitute tea for wine at a drinking session with the king.
Chang Hua (232-300) wrote about marvels in his Po-wu chih. He mentions that what is true tea causes lack of sleep and is to be avoided, which suggests that at this time, not only was tea to be feared, but it was at the same time special and confused with other substances. Even the words for it varied with the text.
Photo of Tea Harvesting © Wm Jas
Comments
Tee Hee!