Prince Siddhartha

We have mentioned before that nobody knows for sure when and where tea was first discovered. One of the most popular legends is of a Chinese King by the name of Shen Nong who is said to have discovered tea around 2737 B.C. More information about this legend can be found in the article titled Shen Nong - The Father of Tea. There is another legend that has spread throughout the Orient and traveling wherever tea and Buddhism went, gaining a large following in Japan. This legend is important to the Buddhist version of tea’s discovery because of its important to Zen Buddhist religious practice.

The legend says that a Prince with an Indian name called Siddhartha Gautama made a pilgrimage to China. To prove his faith he vowed never to sleep, not even in years, but one day when he felt really fatigued he fell into a deep sleep. When the Prince Siddhartha woke from his dream he was so ashamed at having broken his vow that he tore off his eyelids and threw them into the ground. His eyelids took root and from them a bush of green tea leaves sprouted. Prince Siddhartha started eating these leaves and it helped with his meditation and alleviated his weariness so he recommended it to his followers.

According to Indian tea origin theorists, tea was introduced to China by Prince Siddhartha in 519 B.C. However, tea had already been a part of China’s culture for at least one thousand years before Prince Siddhartha’s birth. It seems like the true origin of tea will remain unknown for the time being. Even though the legends of the origin of tea are wonderful in essence, they seem to hold some myth in them.

Join me in my next article as I explore the facts that allow us to determine the true origins of tea.

After the discovery of tea by emperor Shen Nung, as the story goes, it took a while for tea to become a popular drink in China. This was accomplished during the Tang dynasty (618-906 AD) when tea became the national drink of China.

Japan was the next country to fall in love with tea. With Budhist monks traveling to China to study, they would bring back to Japan the refreshing drink. Tea became part of Japanese culture as it is seen even today by rituals such as the Tea Ceremony.

Cup of tea in Holland

The history of tea in Europe began with the Portuguese, as they visited the East as traders and missionaries, they brought back with them new discoveries to the West, including tea. But it was the Dutch who truly introduced tea to Europe by establishing a trading post in the island of Java and commercially exporting the first batch of tea from China to Holland in 1606.

Tea soon became a popular drink in Holland and soon spread through continental western Europe, but because of its high price it remained a drink strictly for the wealthy.

Around 1675, as the amount of tea imported grew and prices dropped, tea became available to  common food shops and by that time, many well to do homes had exclusive tearooms.

Tea has been around for a long time. Although there is no doubt tea originated in China, nobody knows for sure how the first cup was brewed. However, there is a famous story about the origin of tea that dates back to the year 2737 BC, when China was under the rule of King Shen Nong.

Shen Nong

King Shen Nong was known as the father of agriculture and medicine. As the story goes, the king had made it a rule to boil water before drinking it because he believed this would make it healthier to drink. One day when the king was visiting a distant region of his realm, he decided to take a brake and ordered his servants to bring him water. As the servants started bowling the water according to the king’s rule, dry leaves from a nearby bush started to fall on the pot of water. The king became very interested in the infused water and found it to be very delicious and at once felt invigorated. Tea was born.

King Shen Nong was always very concern with his health and that of his people. He recommended tea to those around him, saying, “Tea gives vigor to the body, contentment to the mind, and determination of purpose.” Thanks to his concerns on health, he has been said to discover tea and its medicinal powers.

Even though many affirm that tea was discovered by King Shen Nong, chances are that a king by this name never existed. There used to be a primitive farming tribe in China by the name of Shennong. A clever chieftain is said to have invented plowing tools and to discover tea along with other medicinal herbs through personal experimentation. Legend has given him the status of divinity, the name King Shen Nong, and the title of Father of Tea.