Ep. 140-1 | Tea’s Ancient Beginnings

In this first episode, we'll explore tea's humble beginnings in the Ba 巴国 and Shu 蜀国 States in today's Sichuan province. We'll also look at the mythical story of the discovery of tea by the Divine Farmer, Shen Nong. We have a long way to go as far as tea's history is concerned. The teas we love and enjoy today, a few millennia ago in Shen Ning's time, also, still had a long way to go. Over the next twenty episodes, we'll look at the history of Chinese tea and as it transforms into a beverage that many of us couldn't do without.

Listen On Your Favorite Podcast Player

---

Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Yúnnán	云南	Province in Southwest China
Sìchuān	四川	Province in Western China
Táng Dynasty	唐朝	Imperial dynasty that ran 618-907
Shāng Dynasty	商朝	Bronze Age dynasty that ran 1600-1046 BCE
Zhōu Dynasty	周朝	Dynasty that followed the Shang. Ran 1046-256 BCE
Western Hàn	西汉	The Han Dynasty ran from 202 BCE to 220 CE. The Western Han from 202 BCE to 9 CE. The Eastern Han, from 25 to 220 CE
Emperor Xuān	汉宣帝	Emperor Xuan of Han, reigned 74 to 48 BCE
Tóng Yuē	僮约	A Contract with a Servant
Chéngdū	成都	Capital of Sichuan Province
Wáng Bāo	王褒	The man charged with negotiating the “Tóng Yuē”
Wǔyáng	武阳乡	Small town not far from Chengdu where an ancient tea marker existed
Chá	茶	Tea (Camellia sinensis)
Jiǎ	槚	Another Chinese character for tea
Tú	荼	Another Chinese character for tea
Chuǎn	荈	Another Chinese character for tea
Shè	蔎	Another Chinese character for tea
Míng	茗	Another Chinese character for tea
Lù Yǔ	陆羽	Chinese tea master and literary figure during the Tang Dynasty. Lived 733-804
Chá Jīng	茶经	The Classic of Tea
Wénrén	文人	A literary figure
Chá Shèng	茶圣	The Tea Saint
Shén Nóng	神农	Mythical Chinese ruler from pre-history. Known by many names.
Fúxī	伏羲	Another legendary figure from early pre-history
The Yellow Emperor	黄帝	One of the earliest cultural heroes of the Chinese people and a giant in Chinese mythology
Wǔgǔ Xiāndì	五穀先帝	The First Deity of the Five Grains. One of Shen Nong’s many names
Shén Nóng Běncǎo Jīng	神农本草经	The Shen Nong Materia Medica or Shen Nong Herbal
Chá Lín	茶林	Tea Hill, located in northwest Hunan
Zhāngjiājiè	张家界	City in Northwest Hunan where Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is located
Rù and Rén	入 / 人	Two Chinese characters that look very similar. Rù means to enter and Rén means person
Liáng Shíqiū	梁实秋	Also known as Liang Shih-chiu, renowned educator, writer, translator, literary theorist and lexicographer.
kǔcài	苦菜	Bitter vegetable
Later Han	后汉	Also called The Eastern Han. Ran from 25-220 CE
Shī Jīng	诗经	The Book of Songs, The Book of Odes, one of the Five Classics
Lǐ Jì	礼记	The Book of Rites
Fújiàn	福建	Coastal province in China. They grow a lot of tea there
Guǎngdōng	广东	China’s southernmost province (not including Hainan Island)
Xiàmén	厦门	Major port city in Fujian. Also known as Amoy
Fúzhōu	福州	Capital of Fujian
Quánzhōu	泉州	Port city in southern Fujian
Shuōwén Jiězì	说文解字	An ancient dictionary compiled during the Han Dynasty
Āndì	汉安帝	Emperor An of Han, reigned 106 to 125

---

Enjoy the show and want to support the CHP?

Join the CHP Patreon

Make a Direct Donation

---