Tea

What Mrs. Quinn Learned in her Research for

7th Grade Social Studies

Early Legends

• Tea leaves from a nearby bush blew into a cauldron of boiling water and Shen Nung drank it. “What a refreshing drink,” he thought.

Early Legends

• An Indian prince wanted to pray longer. He chewed tea leaves to stay awake.

• My favorite story is how this monk cut off his eyelids to stay awake and a tea shrub grew where the lids landed.

Where Does Tea Come From?

• Tea is harvested from tea shrubs. Only the newest leaves at the top of the bush are picked.

Let’s Learn More about Processing Tea!

• Check out http://www.stashtea.com/teawhere.htm to find out how tea is created.

Drinking Tea

• The Japanese ground tea leaves into a powder, poured boiling water over the powder, and “whisked” the tea.

• The Chinese dipped (called “steeping”) tea leaves into hot water to brew tea.

Tea in Literature

• Tea was so popular that Lu Yu, a Chinese scholar, wrote a book Ch’a Ching, The Classic of Tea. The book made tea even more popular in the 700s.

The Ch’a Ching

• This book included the history of tea.

• The book also explained how to properly make tea.

Lu Yu’s Advice about Tea

• Tea leaves should only be picked on a clear day.

• Twenty-four tools were needed to correctly make tea. If you don’t have all of these tools, don’t make tea.

• Water for tea should come from a slow-flowing mountain stream.

Lu Yu’s Advice about Drinking Tea

• Sip your tea slowly and quietly.

• Three cups of tea are fine, but five cups are too many.

• Do not add items such as ginger, orange peels, peppermint, or onions to your tea.

• If you must add something to your tea, salt is okay.

The Japanese Tea Ceremony

• Eisai was a Zen Buddhist monk who introduced the tea ceremony to Japan in 1191.

• He also wrote a book, the Kitcha-Yojoki. (The Book of Tea Sanitation)

Steps of the Japanese Ceremony

• The ceremony takes place in the host’s tea room.

• In a separate room called the midsuya, the tea utensils are washed and arranged.

• The guests wait in a third room, the machiai.

More Steps to the Ceremony

• Guests walk a path through a garden (roji) to the tea room.

• Guests enter silently through a low door.

• Samurais were expected to leave their swords on the rack by the door.

Even More Steps to the Ceremony

• Once they entered the tea room, guests would admire the host’s decorations and tea set.

• The host greeted the head guest by bowing and offering a sweet candy called kashiki.

• Host prepared the tea for guests.

And Even More Steps

• After receiving their tea, guests were expected to thank the host.

• A good guest always left an empty cup!

Tea: A Favorite Drink in Many Countries

• China• Japan• England• Russia• India

Credits

Prince Bodhidharma. 11 April 2006 <http://www.zenmind.com/bodhidharma.html>.

Cauldron. 11 April 2006 < http://www.fpccfu.org/october_special.htm>.

Tea. 11 April 2006 http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/t/.

All The Tea Company. “Harvesting Tea.” 11 April 2006http://www.itmonline.org/jintu/allthetea.htm.

Eisai. 11 April 2006 <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoan_Eisai>.