Tea (5 page)

EARLY REFERENCES TO TEA

Beginning in the third century CE, references to tea seem more credible, in particular those dating to the time of Hua T'o, a highly respected physician and surgeon. In his book
Shin Lun
, he wrote, “To drink bitter t'u constantly makes one think better,” and this time t'u most probably referred to the plant we call tea today (
Camellia sinensis
).

Another example from this period comes from a letter written by Liu Kun, a general in the Ch'in dynasty (
265
–
289 CE
), to his nephew, Liu Yen, governor of Yenchow. In this letter, Liu Kun admitted that he felt aged and depressed and “wanted some real t'u.” Since one of the earliest medicinal uses of tea was as a soothing, relaxing drink, this probably refers to tea.

Perhaps the best-known and most frequently mentioned of all early references to tea dates to
350 CE
, when the Chinese scholar Kuo P'o wrote an annotated dictionary called the
Erh Ya Chu
. Kuo P'o calls tea
kia
(yet another name!) or “bitter tea,”
k'u t'u
. He indicates that the “beverage is made from the leaves by boiling.” Kuo P'o also writes, “The plant is as small as the gardenia and in winter has leaves which can be made into a drink. What is plucked early is called ch'a and what is plucked later is called ming, otherwise known as ch'uan which is called bitter tea by the people of Szechwan.”

This mention of the word
ming
indicates knowledge of the importance of time or season of harvest. Other ancient writers also used the word to describe tea, including the fifth-century poet Pao Ling-hui, who mentioned the “fragrant ming.”

EARLY MEDICINAL USES

By the fourth century, tea was a part of Chinese daily life. People did not drink it for pleasure, however, but continued to use it for its value as a medicine. Methods of processing the leaves to make a flavorful beverage were still in the far-off future, and the people of fourth- and fifth-century China had to struggle to get down the bitter brew. Lacking a “spoonful of sugar” to help the medicine go down, they tried masking the bitterness with all kinds of additives, including onions, ginger, salt, and orange. Apparently, these additives did little to make the brew palatable. In addition to being drunk, tea was also occasionally eaten like a vegetable, or even used as snuffor applied externally as a poultice.

Tea, as a bitter brew, was used to cure any number of things, including poor eyesight, fatigue, rheumatic pains, skin ailments (such as sores and ulcers), and problems with kidneys and lungs. It was also considered useful for keeping one alert and improving digestion. The authors of
Shen Nung's Herbal Classic
make it clear that tea was well respected as an important part of their pharmacopoeia, claiming that it would alleviate problems caused by tumors, bladder problems, and sores or abscesses about the head. Drinking tea was more than a cure. It is clear that the authors of the
Herbal Classic
believed that drinking tea did much to prevent illness—and social problems as well!: “Habitual drinking can ease the mind and benefit the qi, increase stamina and keep one fresh and young. . . . Tea is better than wine for it leadeth not to intoxication, neither does it cause a man to say foolish things and repent thereof in his sober moments. It is better than water for it does not carry disease; neither does it act like poison as water does when it contains foul and rotten matter.”

The latter statement is undoubtedly true, because the water for tea was always boiled, ridding it of many disease-bearing organisms.

THE FIRST CULTIVATION OF THE TEA

Tea was indisputably valued as medicine in the latter part of the fourth century and during the fifth century. The increased use naturally created a greater demand for the leaves, which was met by harvesting leaves from the wild and, eventually, by cultivating the tea plant.

Wild tea plants in southwestern China grew quite tall, making harvesting diffcult. Farmers and peasants solved this problem, at least in the short term, by simply cutting the trees down to get the fresh leaves. This practice continued until it became obvious that it would soon deplete whole forests of tea trees, and a primitive silviculture was initiated around the middle of the fourth century. Farmers observed that tea plants grew well in gravelly soils that had good drainage, and they duplicated those conditions for cultivating tea.

The first tea cultivation probably occurred in the hill district of Szechwan, where the trees were planted on hillsides. Planters today, like their counterparts
1
,
700
years ago, know the value of well-drained soils, and in many places around the world, tea shrubs are still planted on hillsides, where drainage is excellent.

During the time of the Northern Wei Dynasty (
386
–
535 CE
), tea leaves were at least primitively processed, and, presumably, the taste improved. A dictionary of this period states that in the district between the provinces of Hupeh and Szechwan, tea leaves were harvested, made into cakes, and roasted until hard and reddish in color. The cakes were then pounded into small pieces and placed in a chinaware pot. This may be the first indication of the unrelenting quest for the best processing methods to produce the best-tasting teas, a quest that we continue even today.

During the Southern Dynasty (
420
–
478 CE
), the cultivation of tea was common, and it was considered a valuable crop. During this time, the imperial court demanded that a tea tribute be paid by the peasants. The writer Shan Ch'ien-Chih reported that “Twenty lis [a li is a little over
700
yards] west from the city of Wucheng, in the province of Chekiang, there is the Wen mountain, on which grows the tea reserved to the emperor as tribute tea.”

This first tribute was a precursor of tea taxes that were to have repercussions for many cultures around the world.

BUDDHISM AND TEA:
THE LEGEND OF PRINCE BODHIDHARMA

The early history of tea centers around China, even though the tea plant (in varying forms) is indigenous to both southwestern China and the Assam region of India (and many other places in southeastern Asia). It is puzzling that the Chinese made such thorough use of the plant, from the days of antiquity, while the Indians did not. There are few references to the use of tea in India until about the sixth century, and even then, usage of the plant was not widespread. It is during this period, however, that one of the most famous of all legends about tea is said to have occurred. It happened like this:

Prince Bodhidharma (also known as Pu Tai Ta-Mo in Chinese, and Daruma Daishi in Japanese) grew up near Madras, India, in the Sardilli family, in the fifth century. He was a wealthy and favored young prince. When he was a young man, he came upon the teachings of Buddha and thereafter dedicated his life to study and meditation. He studied for many years and became so skilled and knowledgeable that, in
470
, he was asked to travel to China to reintroduce Buddhism. (Buddhism had reached China
600
years before this time, but had begun to die out there.) It is known that Bodhidharma traveled first to Canton in
470
and that in
520
he traveled to northern China, where he was granted an interview with the Liang emperor, Wu-Ti. This emperor was noted for his good works and was eager to speak with Bodhidharma, for he felt sure that the monk would tell him that he was well on his way to enlightenment. When Bodhidharma said that enlightenment could not be obtained through merit, Wu-Ti apparently was not pleased and left the interview in great confusion.

Leaving the emperor, Bodhidharma went to Loyang, crossed the Yang-tse River, then traveled up into the mountains of the Sung range to stay at the Shaolin temple. Legend says that to fulfill a vow, he spent nine years in meditation in a small cave there. It is from this long meditation that many of the legends about Bodhidharma—and tea—originate.

Some versions of the legend say that Bodhidharma was looking at a wall in a cave for nine years, while others suggest that he simply vowed to do without sleep, giving his full attention to the meditation of Buddha. According to this version, after five years, his need for sleep became overpowering, and in desperation to keep himself awake, he pulled leaves off a nearby bush and began chewing on them. Fortunately for him—and for us—or perhaps it was divinely ordained—the leaves came off a tea bush and were simultaneously stimulating and soothing, immediately reviving him. He used the leaves of this shrub over and over again until he was able to complete his vow.

Once the vow was complete, Bodhidharma is said to have turned his attention to helping the monks of the temple. Not only did he introduce them to tea, to enable them to stay awake during long periods of meditation, but he also taught them physical techniques to strengthen the body to withstand the rigors of sitting long hours of meditation. This physical practice, also used as a form of self-defense against bandits and invading war lords, eventually grew into the martial arts style called kung fu.

Like many legends, this one has endless variations and inconsistencies. After all, as previously indicated, there are written records of tea being drunk for centuries preceding the arrival of Bodhidharma in China. In some versions, the prince actually fell asleep during the years of his vow and was so disgusted with himself when he woke that he pulled off his eyelids so that they would never again close. Where he tossed these aside, the tea shrub began to grow. (The popular “eyebrow” tea,
chun mee-cha
, introduced in
1958
, has nothing to do with this eyelid legend, but instead refers to the curved “eyebrow” shape of the processed leaf.)

Wherever tea actually originated, it was used as an aid to meditation among the Buddhist monks of Bodhidharma's time. Because it was such an important meditation tool, and because meditation was such an essential part of the type of Buddhism that Bodhidharma preached (now known as Zen Buddhism), the spread of tea parallels the spread of Buddhism from China to other places in Asia.

“Its liquor is like the sweetest dew of heaven.”

—Lu Yu, eighth-century tea master

TEA IN THE T
'
ANG DYNASTY

The imperial court of the T'ang dynasty (
618
–
907
) enjoyed great power and influence and controlled vast lands and wealth. A contributing factor to this expansion of power was a series of interconnecting canals that allowed communication and transportation to all parts of the empire and beyond. Boats on the canals carried tea and other consumer goods from one port to another, and as foreign trade grew, the empire expanded.

Of course, Chinese traders used other means of transportation as well, and wherever Chinese traders went, tea went with them. At this point in history, tea leaves were pressed into a brick or cake, then baked until hard. This gave them a long shelf life and made them easy to transport. To make tea from a brick of baked leaves, one broke off a portion of the hard cake, ground it into powder with a mortar and pestle, then boiled it for several minutes to make tea, which was poured into a bowl.