Reading History in the tea leavesThere are many accounts of where and how tea was discovered. Many versions are considered to be legend and myths, but they all have similarities. For instance, it has been written that tea was discovered by accident by the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung. There is also the story of Shennong, the God of Agriculture, who had the body of a man but the head of an ox. He supposedly ate tealeaves to detoxify the poisons of the herbs he had eaten. In Japan, the legend about the discovery is that the Buddhist saint Bodhidharma’s eyelids were the seeds of the first tea plant. 
Tea is indigenous to parts of India, and many believe that the peasants there have been drinking tea for thousands of years. However, many historians tell us that Indians did not recognize tea as a drinkable beverage until the 5th century. It’s not truly known when the first tea was discovered or cultivated. Some reports say it was first cultivated in the Szechwan province in the Southwestern part of China. There are accounts that mention the southern Yangtze Valley near Tibet and Yunnan. Lu Yu’s book The Classic of Tea is credited as being the first definitive work written about tea, and one consistent truth is that tea did, indeed, come from China. One thing written in all accounts and legends holds true…. the global acceptance of tea was attributed to the Buddhist priests. They traveled to Japan and the trade routes of the Silk Road to take their valuable commodity to Russia and Europe. This resulted in a worldwide popularity of this amazing beverage and opened the trade routes to America, Great Britain, India, and Africa. To continue your journey through the world of tea history follow the links below.
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