Description:
"Legend has it that tea was discovered by the Chinese emperor Shen Nung in the third millennium before the birth of Christ. The Divine Healer, as he was called, had learned that those who boiled water before drinking it were less likley to fall ill. On a fateful day is 2737 BCE, while the emperor's servants were feeding a fire with branches of wild camellias and tea trees, some tea leaves fell into the boiling water -- and thus the first tea was brewed. The golden liquor was given the name ch'a.
"Since its beginnings, the infinitely complex and variously flavored brew has been a source of endless fasciation. Hailed by the Taoists as "the exilixer of mortality," it was elevated to almost mystical heights by Chinese nobles, its first champions, who drank it from exquisitely crafted procelain bowls." From French Tea by Carole Manchester.
In Tea: East & West, Henry Hobhouse credits tea with being a drink that sustained the health of residents of large cities such as Canton and London. It was one of the few safe drinks available to people in areas where the water was infested with a myrias of waterborne diseases. Apart from the practical use of tea as a safe source of fluids, tea has also played a role in the social and cultural identities of nations. We need only to think of the Boston Tea Party in 1773 to be reminded of the role tea played in our nation's history. From the complex Japanese tea ceremony to the tradition of afternoon tea in England, tea in plays a major role in the food and drink culture of the world.
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Books in this Exibit:
All the tea in China / by Kit Chow and Ione Kramer
Antioxidant food supplements in human health / edited by Lester Packer, Midori Hiramatsu, and Toshikazu Yoshikawa
The book of coffee & tea : a guide to the appreciation of fine coffees, teas, and herbal beverages / by Joel, David, and Karl Schapira ; illustrated by Meri Shardin
French tea : the pleasures of the table / by Carole Manchester ; photographs by Juliette d'Assay
Liquid pleasures : a social history of drinks in modern Britain / by John Burnett
Tea basics : a quick and easy guide / by Wendy Rasmussen and Ric Rhinehart
Tea : east & west / edited by Rupert Faulkner
The world of caffeine : the science and culture of the world's most popular drug / by Bennett Alan Weinberg and Bonnie K. Bealer
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Additional Books in this Exhibit:
- An account of the cultivation and manufacture of tea in China / by Samuel Ball (late inspector of teas to the hon. United East Inida Co.)
Originally published: London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1848.
SB272 .C5 B34 1980 -
The culture and marketing of tea / by C. r. Harler.
London : Oxford University Press, 1964.
SB271 .H37 1964 -
Tea soils / by Harold H. Mann.
Harpenden, England : Imperial Bureau of Soil Science, 1935.
S590 .I55 no.32 1935
This exhibit was created May 2012 and designed by Carla Arbagey.
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