The History of Tea
Tea has been popular for 6500 years, first in China and then in the rest of the world, as this timeline shows.

Tea
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About 4500 years ago: Tea drinking began in China. Legend has it that the emporer decreed that all water was to be boiled before drinking to prevent disease. One day the emporer and his entourage were on a journey and when they stopped to rest, water was boiled in accordance with his law. Leaves from a nearby bush fell into the boiling water but the emporer drank it anyway. When he discovered what a refreshing drink it was, tea drinking was born.

800AD: By this time drinking tea was widespread in China then Lu Yu wrote Ch'a Ching, the first book on tea giving information on methods of growing tea and preparing the drink. The work clearly shows the influence of Zen Buddhism on the writer and is thought to be the basis for the Japanese Tea Ceremony. This definitive work brought him recognition during his lifetime.

794-1185: Tea was taken to Japan and was enjoyed by the Japanese emporer and his courtiers. Because the tea exported to Japan was did not have a flavour that became popular and diplomatic relations between the two countries were poor and eventually ceased altogether, tea drinking declined.

About 1200: A Japanese Buddhist priest returning from China took tea seeds with him. He also wrote a book about the benefits of tea drinking and introduced the Chinese tea ceremony. Tea became associated with Buddhism in Japan. by the 15th and 16th century the Japanese Tea Ceremony became an established part of Japanese life.

From 1600: Tea arrives in Europe. Although travellers returning from China had brought back news of tea, it wasn't until the start of the 17th century that it was imported, first into Holland. Initially it was very expensive and so fashionable amongst the wealthy but gained in popularity at all levels of society as the price fell with increased imports. Tea drinking then spead to other European countries.

1650s: Tea was introduced to American Dutch colonies and then to England and quickly became popular, first amongst the wealthy, then throughout society. It was introduced to American English colonies until the late 17th century and imports were attracted high duties.

1767: The tax on tea was raised to cover the cost of the war against the French and Indians waged in the North American colonies leading to illegal imports from the Dutch. On December 16, colonists dressed as Indians threw large quantities of tea into Boston Harbour - an event now known as the Boston Tea Party and the start of the American Revolution.

1848: Scottish plant hunter Robert Crown went to China and obtained almost 24,000 young tree plants and 17,000 seedlings along with eight Chinese tea growers (the export of tea plants and seeds was strictly forbidden by the Chinese to maintain their monopoly). These were all taken to the Himalayas where tea plantations were established in the Indian provinces as Assam and SiKkim. Tea became the principal export of these provinces.

1908: Thomas Sullivan of New York invented the teabag.

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