Black Tea's Historical Journey around the world

Tea is one of the top three beverages in the world and been widespread enjoyed among the world's two billion people.

And China is the birthplace of tea, and like riding the waves when look back the history of the spread of the teas.

The tea consumed and grown around the world, as well as the tea tasting techniques and tea making methods, all came directly or indirectly from China.

According to the earliest Chinese regional chronicle "Hua Yang Guo Zhi", 3,000 years ago, people in the Sichuan region began to cultivate tea trees and offered tea as a precious tribute to King Wu of Zhou, the king of Zhou Emperor at that time.

For centuries, the tea world has been quiet and secretive, but war broke the calm and pushed tea from behind the curtain to the forefront of the world.

After tea came into being in China, it first spread with Chinese culture to Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and other Asian countries. 16th century onwards. The rise of the Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road between China and the West, tea became the main trade commodity to Russia, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands. As the tea planting and processing technology was spread to European countries such as Europe, the United Kingdom and France.

Subsequently, through the colonial expansion of European countries, techniques such as tea cultivation and processing were spread to the colonial areas of Europe countries and America, and after thousands of years. Tea eventually became a truly global beverage.

The "Tea and Zen" advocated by Zen Master Engo Kokugon, and his hand written book, "Yin Ke Zhuang," traveled from eastward to FuSo, it is considered to be the highest level of the Japanese tea ceremony, and has been the spiritual leader of the Japanese people ever since.

While Arab merchants were buying silk in the Tang Dynasty in eastern, they also brought back teas and shipped them to Persia. At almost the same time, Turkish traders also bartered tea at the Chinese border.

During the history of the spread of tea, the black tea in the late 16th and early 17th centuries is most worthy of a major book.

Lapsang Souchong black tea, the originator of the world's black tea, first appeared around the late Ming Dynasty (about 1568) in Fujian province Wuyi mountain TongMu town, was created by chance from the ancestors of the Jiang Clan (the ancestor of the creator of the Zheng Shan Tang).

In the late 16th and early 17th centuries (c. 1604), the Lapsang Souchong was spread overseas and brought to Europe by Dutch merchants first as the cure function Prescriptions for sale in pharmacy

When Princess Catherine of Braganza from Portugal married King Charles II in 1662, her dowry had included several cases of Lapsang Souchong black tea from China. Afterwards, Queen Anne advocated tea as a substitute for wine, and black tea was introduced into high society and became an indispensable part of the royal family's life. In 1840, Anna Maria, Duchess of Bedford, prepared a pot of black tea to pass the afternoon ‘s time, invited a few friends over for a chat and a cup of tea, served with bread, muffins and other snacks. This trend quickly became popular among British aristocrats and Queen Anne advocated tea as a substitute for alcohol, and black tea was introduced into high society and became an indispensable part of royal life.

For thousands of years, by the efforts of the tea maker, and the literati, scholars and religious figures fueling to the tea, Tea, this strain from the God gift has transferred into the grass plant, from the sacrifices offering into the daily drink, from the poison antidote into the common people's drinking, from the luxury commodity into one of the "seven necessity" within common Asian people.

Meanwhile, tea has also come into people's spiritual world. Tea culture in China has long and vitality history, which enhances the Chinese culture Influence among the world, furthermore, it promotes the exchange and integration of culture from Chinese to foreigner.