Spelling civilization with a
Tea
Lo and behold, the fascinating tea stories that I
came across in recent times. Many have been modified
over the last 5000 years, but still hold true to the
spirit of the stories as when they were first
narrated.
Story 1:
Daruma, also known as Buddha set
out for a pleasant walk from India to China to
visit the Shaolin temple. There he sat in front
of the wall of enlightenment, unstirred for nine
years, meditating and reflecting over all that
he had witnessed during his journey.
One aberrant day, the unwavering spiritual leader forgot himself for a split of a second and fell asleep. When he woke up, he was filled with a sense of guilt and disgust and sliced off his eyelashes as a punishment for disregarding Dharma. All the while, his young disciple Quan Yin (Guanyin) observed this act of remorse, and cried where the eyelashes fell. This caused tea plants to grow over the lashes to remind disciples of the tough but fulfilling path to enlightenment. This was the birth of Oolong Tea.
(Coincidentally, the Japanese characters for tea leaf and eyelid are the same.)
Story 2:
The disciple Quan Yin is also
known as the Goddess of Mercy. On reaching
enlightenment, she was honored with a temple in
Fujian Shaxin. A huge iron statue was erected in
her name. Over many centuries, the temple became
dilapidated much to the discontent of her
disciples. One such disciple was a poor tea
grower who traveled to the province from a far
away land. On seeing the pathetic condition of
the temple, he decided to clean it everyday and
burn some incense in the name of the Goddess.
Pleased with the devotion and services rendered
by the tea grower, Quan Yin appeared in his
dream. She told him that there was a huge
treasure awaiting him in a small cave behind the
temple that he was to share with other
disciples. The tea grower ran immediately to the
cave and found a small tea shoot planted in the
middle of a dark hole. Ecstatic, he gently
picked up the shoot and over time grew the
finest tea known to man, pure as the goddess and
dark and smooth as her iron statue. He dried it
in a stone wok until it smelt and tasted like
the finest blossoms. Today we drink it as Ti
Kuan Yin (Tea of Guan Yin)
Story 3:
In another story about Oolong tea,
a tea grower was drying his tealeaves after a
good harvest. He loved to sing when he toiled
hard and that made his work very pleasurable. He
sang about his life, about nature and creation
and then he sang the most beautiful verse about
a black dragon called oolong. And just as he
did, a huge black serpent appeared from nowhere
and danced in front of him. Although the dance
was like he had never seen before, the
frightened tea grower fled for his life. Many
days later, the he mustered some courage and
returned to work. As luck would have it, he
arrived at the most fragrant tea in the history
of mankind. His leaves had oxidised perfectly.
Unable to resist the temptation, he dropped some
leaves in a cup of hot water. The leaves
uncurled and little dragons came to life
effusing fire and fragrance.
Story 4:
Oolong tea had bene growing for
quite some time by now, but the origin of name
Oolong has been a source of many inspiring
stories. Wu liang – the hunter, also known as Wu
Long or Oolong stumbled on some tea shoots in a
forest and was mesmerized by it’s soft green
leaves. Just then, a beautiful deer passed right
in front of him. He quickly got on to his horse
and went in the direction of the deer. Many days
after his successful hunt, he remembered the tea
plant that he saw in the forest. By the time he
arrived, the tea had started to oxidize. Oolong
tried hard to revive the tea shoot. He soaked it
in a porcelain jug of water. The water began to
turn golden and the smell like blossoms. Out of
curiosity, he decided to take a sip and stumbled
on a drink like he never had before.
Some Almost True Stories:
Story 1:
Many years ago, poor Japanese
peasants loved drinking tea almost as much as I
do today, but found it difficult to afford it in
large quantities. So they mixed it with roasted
rice and invented a flavorsome drink called
Genmai Cha. I am told, it’s the preferred choice
of tea today among the rich folk.
Story 2:
In China, tea is most commonly
known as "cha". Quite naturally, the Indians,
Russians and Turkish who were introduced to tea
by traders traveling along the silk road began
to call it cha as well. However, in the 16th
century Europeans began to buy their tea from a
Fujian province in China, possibly the only
place where “cha” was called “tey”. Thus the
word “tea” from the Fukinese dialect became a
more common name for this flavorsome drink.
Story 3:
It is true that Marco Polo was a
world-famous traveler, also one to be admired
for all the rich cultures (including foods) that
he introduced the world to. But, little did he
know that he cornered himself into partial
retraction when he wrote about his expedition to
China. There he was, reflecting on China’s
unique financial system, of their foliage and
plumage and all the wonderful aspects of nature.
Perplexingly, he missed mentioning some obvious
facts about Chinese culture, that seem
fundamental, like foot-binding and the widly
popular drink of the 13th century, tea. Nearing
death, a minister asked if he'd like to admit
that his stories were false. Marco muttered, "I
did not tell half of what I saw." And those were
his last words.
Story 4:
Charles Earl Grey, a handsome
young Englishman traveled to China on official
work. There he risked his life to save the
drowning child of a Chinese noble. In return for
his act of kindness, the mandarin presented him
with the recipe for making this a very
distinctive tea that later came to be known as
Earl Grey. Today, it is one of the most popular
tea drinks in the world. However, historians
made some corrections to this version. Firstly,
the Chinese have never been black tea drinkers,
and were unlikely to have a recipe for Earl Grey
to bestow on visitors. Secondly, Charles Earl
Grey never set foot in China. Otherwise, the
story is completely true. :-)
Earl Grey had a great penchant for tea, as did every other Englishman at that time. Tea was was treasured as a national "morale booster." In fact, in WWII, tea deliveries to Britain were so disrupted by the fighting that stocks of tea were dispersed to over 500 different locations all over England in order to better protect it from air raids by the Luftwaffe. It seems that they had their priorities straight: save the tea (oh yeah, and the Queen).
Story 5:
I was particularly interested in
how tea came to be produced in India. Naturally,
as with all commodities in high demand, there
was an interesting story to it too. The
Europeans’ unquenchable thirst for tea increased
it’s demand. Unfortunately, they were unable to
find anything that the Chinese would trade tea
for. With the Chinese closing the doors to the
tea market, the British found no other option
but to smuggle it to India. The weather being
perfectly suited to grow this inexpensive crop,
India began to develop as a major tea supplier.
Because of tea’s addictive nature, it insured an
endless demand of tea. Here it also needs to be
mentioned that China had never developed black
tea until this point. I don’t still know how
India came to grow black tea, which is a more
popular tea variety both in India as well as in
England.
Story 6:
Tea is to blame for a lot of
things, but little does it occur to anyone that
there is a frequent almost-daily activity, many
times not involving tea that began as a tea
drinker’s custom. By this I mean the concept of
tipping waiters in restaurants. Supposedly,
tipping was born in the tea gardens of England.
Story has it that a small wooden box was placed
on each table in the garden. The box was
inscribed "To Insure Prompt Service" or TIPS for
short. A coin dropped in the box usually assured
prompt tea service; thus the custom of tipping
was born. However, the word "tip" existed long
before the first tea garden was ever
established. Most obviously, this "tip" would
not insure prompt service (unless tea at the
time was dangerous), rather ensure prompt
service... Another covert sabotage attempt by
the coffee industry foiled.
My favorite tea links:
Tea Class - For the history of tea, including interesting facts and myths about tea and tea culture.
Tazo Tea - Just an awesome flash website
Tea Guide - For many FAQs
Tea Talk - To help you find tea rooms in your city
Wikipedia Tea For general info.
Story 1:
Daruma, also known as Buddha set
out for a pleasant walk from India to China to
visit the Shaolin temple. There he sat in front
of the wall of enlightenment, unstirred for nine
years, meditating and reflecting over all that
he had witnessed during his journey.
One aberrant day, the unwavering spiritual leader forgot himself for a split of a second and fell asleep. When he woke up, he was filled with a sense of guilt and disgust and sliced off his eyelashes as a punishment for disregarding Dharma. All the while, his young disciple Quan Yin (Guanyin) observed this act of remorse, and cried where the eyelashes fell. This caused tea plants to grow over the lashes to remind disciples of the tough but fulfilling path to enlightenment. This was the birth of Oolong Tea.
(Coincidentally, the Japanese characters for tea leaf and eyelid are the same.)
Story 2:
The disciple Quan Yin is also
known as the Goddess of Mercy. On reaching
enlightenment, she was honored with a temple in
Fujian Shaxin. A huge iron statue was erected in
her name. Over many centuries, the temple became
dilapidated much to the discontent of her
disciples. One such disciple was a poor tea
grower who traveled to the province from a far
away land. On seeing the pathetic condition of
the temple, he decided to clean it everyday and
burn some incense in the name of the Goddess.
Pleased with the devotion and services rendered
by the tea grower, Quan Yin appeared in his
dream. She told him that there was a huge
treasure awaiting him in a small cave behind the
temple that he was to share with other
disciples. The tea grower ran immediately to the
cave and found a small tea shoot planted in the
middle of a dark hole. Ecstatic, he gently
picked up the shoot and over time grew the
finest tea known to man, pure as the goddess and
dark and smooth as her iron statue. He dried it
in a stone wok until it smelt and tasted like
the finest blossoms. Today we drink it as Ti
Kuan Yin (Tea of Guan Yin)
Story 3:
In another story about Oolong tea,
a tea grower was drying his tealeaves after a
good harvest. He loved to sing when he toiled
hard and that made his work very pleasurable. He
sang about his life, about nature and creation
and then he sang the most beautiful verse about
a black dragon called oolong. And just as he
did, a huge black serpent appeared from nowhere
and danced in front of him. Although the dance
was like he had never seen before, the
frightened tea grower fled for his life. Many
days later, the he mustered some courage and
returned to work. As luck would have it, he
arrived at the most fragrant tea in the history
of mankind. His leaves had oxidised perfectly.
Unable to resist the temptation, he dropped some
leaves in a cup of hot water. The leaves
uncurled and little dragons came to life
effusing fire and fragrance.
Story 4:
Oolong tea had bene growing for
quite some time by now, but the origin of name
Oolong has been a source of many inspiring
stories. Wu liang – the hunter, also known as Wu
Long or Oolong stumbled on some tea shoots in a
forest and was mesmerized by it’s soft green
leaves. Just then, a beautiful deer passed right
in front of him. He quickly got on to his horse
and went in the direction of the deer. Many days
after his successful hunt, he remembered the tea
plant that he saw in the forest. By the time he
arrived, the tea had started to oxidize. Oolong
tried hard to revive the tea shoot. He soaked it
in a porcelain jug of water. The water began to
turn golden and the smell like blossoms. Out of
curiosity, he decided to take a sip and stumbled
on a drink like he never had before.
Some Almost True Stories:
Story 1:
Many years ago, poor Japanese
peasants loved drinking tea almost as much as I
do today, but found it difficult to afford it in
large quantities. So they mixed it with roasted
rice and invented a flavorsome drink called
Genmai Cha. I am told, it’s the preferred choice
of tea today among the rich folk.
Story 2:
In China, tea is most commonly
known as "cha". Quite naturally, the Indians,
Russians and Turkish who were introduced to tea
by traders traveling along the silk road began
to call it cha as well. However, in the 16th
century Europeans began to buy their tea from a
Fujian province in China, possibly the only
place where “cha” was called “tey”. Thus the
word “tea” from the Fukinese dialect became a
more common name for this flavorsome drink.
Story 3:
It is true that Marco Polo was a
world-famous traveler, also one to be admired
for all the rich cultures (including foods) that
he introduced the world to. But, little did he
know that he cornered himself into partial
retraction when he wrote about his expedition to
China. There he was, reflecting on China’s
unique financial system, of their foliage and
plumage and all the wonderful aspects of nature.
Perplexingly, he missed mentioning some obvious
facts about Chinese culture, that seem
fundamental, like foot-binding and the widly
popular drink of the 13th century, tea. Nearing
death, a minister asked if he'd like to admit
that his stories were false. Marco muttered, "I
did not tell half of what I saw." And those were
his last words.
Story 4:
Charles Earl Grey, a handsome
young Englishman traveled to China on official
work. There he risked his life to save the
drowning child of a Chinese noble. In return for
his act of kindness, the mandarin presented him
with the recipe for making this a very
distinctive tea that later came to be known as
Earl Grey. Today, it is one of the most popular
tea drinks in the world. However, historians
made some corrections to this version. Firstly,
the Chinese have never been black tea drinkers,
and were unlikely to have a recipe for Earl Grey
to bestow on visitors. Secondly, Charles Earl
Grey never set foot in China. Otherwise, the
story is completely true. :-)
Earl Grey had a great penchant for tea, as did every other Englishman at that time. Tea was was treasured as a national "morale booster." In fact, in WWII, tea deliveries to Britain were so disrupted by the fighting that stocks of tea were dispersed to over 500 different locations all over England in order to better protect it from air raids by the Luftwaffe. It seems that they had their priorities straight: save the tea (oh yeah, and the Queen).
Story 5:
I was particularly interested in
how tea came to be produced in India. Naturally,
as with all commodities in high demand, there
was an interesting story to it too. The
Europeans’ unquenchable thirst for tea increased
it’s demand. Unfortunately, they were unable to
find anything that the Chinese would trade tea
for. With the Chinese closing the doors to the
tea market, the British found no other option
but to smuggle it to India. The weather being
perfectly suited to grow this inexpensive crop,
India began to develop as a major tea supplier.
Because of tea’s addictive nature, it insured an
endless demand of tea. Here it also needs to be
mentioned that China had never developed black
tea until this point. I don’t still know how
India came to grow black tea, which is a more
popular tea variety both in India as well as in
England.
Story 6:
Tea is to blame for a lot of
things, but little does it occur to anyone that
there is a frequent almost-daily activity, many
times not involving tea that began as a tea
drinker’s custom. By this I mean the concept of
tipping waiters in restaurants. Supposedly,
tipping was born in the tea gardens of England.
Story has it that a small wooden box was placed
on each table in the garden. The box was
inscribed "To Insure Prompt Service" or TIPS for
short. A coin dropped in the box usually assured
prompt tea service; thus the custom of tipping
was born. However, the word "tip" existed long
before the first tea garden was ever
established. Most obviously, this "tip" would
not insure prompt service (unless tea at the
time was dangerous), rather ensure prompt
service... Another covert sabotage attempt by
the coffee industry foiled.
My favorite tea links:
Tea Class - For the history of tea, including interesting facts and myths about tea and tea culture.
Tazo Tea - Just an awesome flash website
Tea Guide - For many FAQs
Tea Talk - To help you find tea rooms in your city
Wikipedia Tea For general info.
