The Tea Detective
Uncovering and Exploring the Facts About Tea
The Tang Dynasty Brings a New
Sophistication to Tea Drinking in China
While the Han (206BC-220AD) and Qin Dynasties (224-589AD) worked to build a unified country    
with one central government, the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) ushered in an era of refinement       
and sophistication to tea and tea drinking in China.  The emphasis was on art, culture, and           
surrounding oneself with the finest, most luxurious furnishings, textiles, and decor.
Tea drinking was now for pleasure and relaxation,
and it was the Tang who first introduced tea as a
pleasurable beverage drunk during formal tea
gatherings.

A strict code of tea etiquette was designed and to
ensure that rare, expensive teas were properly pre
pared a new professional class was created called
a Tea Master.  The Tea Master's job was to execute
the preparation and serving of tea with style and
proper social etiquette.  The emperor, government
officials, and high social-ranking citizens employed
a Tea Master.

Tea was no longer thought of as a crude and bitter
brew, but as a healthy drink, viewed in a more spir-
itual realm, believed to be the "elixir of immortal-
ity."  This transcendental view of tea was furthered
by a scholar, recluse, and member of the literati named Lu Yu, often referred to as "China's
Father of Tea."

Lu Yu was China's first real tea specialist and he's known today as the "patron saint of tea."  
During the 8th century AD, Lu Yu wrote Cha Chang (Classic of Tea), codifying the rituals he thought
of as necessary for properly preparing a pot of tea.

Lu Yu learned how to correctly brew tea from his adopted father, a Buddhist monk, working for
20 years to produce the book that became essential reading for all tea farmers, tea merchants,
and Chinese tea consumers, and is still highly regarded today.

In Cha Chang (Classic of Tea) Lu Yu described the tea plant, cultiva-
tion, and the way different teas are manufactured.  He taught read-
ers what sort of water to use, about the health benefits, as well
as explaining the culture and rituals of tea drinking.  He brought to-
gether both the practical and philosophical beliefs learned during
his lifetime, bringing both Confucian and Daoist principals into prac-
tice in Cha Chang.

It was under Lu Yu's guidance that the very first tea utensils were designed to be used exclusiv-
ely for preparing, serving, and drinking tea.

As the methods and rituals of tea drinking became more sophisticated, so too did the tea tools
used to prepare and drink it.  A varied selection of ceramic tea bowls, teacups, teapots, and
ewers for water were created.

Not only did Lu Yu teach tea drinkers to appreciate tea, but also the materials used to make the
tea bowls, favoring white Hsing Chou ware and greenish colored Yueh ware.

Under the Tang Dynasty a vast government-controlled network of tea gardens was established
in western and southern China.  Both the western border populations of Tibetans and the north-
ern border populations of Mongols and Tartans sought tea as an important addition to their mea-
ger diets.  The Tang government devised a barter system, trading their tea for horses with the
border populations.

                                            In 641AD the Tibetans first learned about tea, when Tang                 
                                             Princess Wen Cheng married Tibetan King Songtsan Gambo,             
                                             bringing tea from her home in Sichuan Province with her to Tibet.      
                                             The barter and trading system established between the Tibetans     
                                             and Tang Court lasted well into the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

                                            The Tibetans traded strong and healthy horses to the Tang who
needed them for their warriors, while the Tibetans found tea a necessity to fortify their  non-
vegetable diets.

Horse-caravan routes were established to further trading with groups far from China.  These
round-trip routes were long, hard journeys, often across treacherous terrain, along with harsh
weather at times.

The first of the routes created is known as the "Tea Horse Route," stretching from Sichuan to
Yunnan province, to Tibet, and over the rough and rugged Himalayas.

Later other tea trading routes were created running from western China,
with southern routes to Tibet and a western route running from Sichuan
province, going across central Asia to Mongolia and Siberia.

Compressed bricks of dark, course, low-quality "border tea" was design-
ed for trading.  These tea bricks were made from tea twigs and leftover
bits of tea from producing the Tang's fine quality tea cakes.
These crude "border tea" cakes were devised to avoid spoilage and send as much tea as possible to Tibet on each
trip.

It was around this same period of time that tea was being introduced to Japan via visits to Chinese Buddhist monks,
from Zen priests.  The priest Saicho would return to Japan in 815 after living in China for many years and prepare and
serve boiled tea cake to Emperor Saga, afterwards planting the tea seeds in the temple gardens.  But it would be
several centuries before tea and tea drinking would take hold in Japan and become popular.  (Visit Japan's early tea
history page for more on tea and tea drinking in Japan).

During the coming Song Dynasty (960-1279) tea would continue to be a formal and refined activity, but the rules of
tea drinking established during the Tang Dynasty would become even more complex and formal.  Enjoy.
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