Tea in China

Tea is the national drink in China. Chinese tea just as Chinese character has a long history, and serves as an important part of Chinese long-standing history and culture. As of today, Chinese tea has spread every corner of China from academic research to daily life. Chinese traditional culture to a most degree is closely connected with Chinese tea, even at present, drinking tea is also one of the identities to judge a person is a Chinese or not. In Chinese literature, art, philosophy and religions, Chinese tea is always associated more or less. If people or academician talk about or research on China and Chinese culture, Chinese tea will be surely mentioned or connected inevitably.

This is tea in China not only the must of people’s daily life but also the essence of the culture and history. Chinese tea is connected closely with Chinese Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Roughly, since Tang Dynasty, drinking tea is a must for self-cultivation. Chinese Zen or Chan philosophy is also linked with drinking tea. In China, traditionally tea drinkers were always considered to be high-level or gentleman-like men and they used to be highly respected by society, because drinking tea is the show of personal morality, education, principle and status. Chinese tea-drinking popularity for sure brought the large production of tea-china or porcelains and also brought the flourish of Chinese porcelain culture. Chinese tea also makes a great contribution to the development of Chinese elite culture or learner’s culture. Conventionally, Chinese scholars has the common ideal academic life that is in his personal study or teahouse, he could pleasantly have a free and deep communication with their bosom friends or happily create poems or calligraphies with their best friends when they enjoying the tea and the natural beauty. So anciently, Chinese teahouse was very popular with learners not only the excellent service but also the humanistic atmosphere surrounded by the fragrance of tea. Teahouse is the by-product of Chinese tea culture but it also the historical evidence of Chinese tea history. Currently, people can also feel such a kind of humanistic atmosphere in Beijing like Lao She Teahouse and East China like Hangzhou, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, Shaoxing and Shanghai and so on. It is still dynamic and vigorous.

As for the origin of Chinese tea, apart from the ancient records, the folklore is also available. Tea in fact started as a kind of medicine in China to treat some illness of human being. It is said that tea was firstly discovered and tasted by Emperor Shennong or Shennongshi, who was one of Chinese oldest forefathers and the inventor of Chinese herbal medicine and agriculture. Later, as it widely extended, in Tang Dynasty, a special book named Chajing(茶经，Book on Tea) was professionally written by Lu Yu, who was respectably called the Saint of Tea. Together with old China's influence and cultural communication overseas, Chinese tea culture largely spread in the world.  As early as Han Dynasty, Chinese tea had been spread to India and Turkey. In Tang Dynasty, thanks to the cultural communication of Buddhism, Chinese tea was planted in Japan. Afterwards, Chinese tea successively spread in the world and many peoples formed the custom of drinking tea. In some countries, Drinking tea like China has been a culture and widely-accepted exhibition of local custom and history. In Japan, due to the long-term custom of drinking tea, tea culture, called Sado(茶道), has been an important culture of Japan to distinguish themselves in the world. Tea has gradually developed into the number one beverage in China and now is the number one beverage in the world.