Stories about Tea

Tea has been subject to many praises as well as criticisms due to its simplicity and complexity, people claiming this and that and others producing results about it. It has gained its popular image way back, centuries ago. Japan, China, United Kingdom and some other parts of the world have come to embrace tea, having a place for them in history, culture and belief. Up to today, tea is served in cafés and tea shops, not to mention in hotels and homes. It has been part of tradition and way of living.

Now, as anything that has long been recognized and looked upon, it is peculiar to take note just why so much attention has been placed in such a humble herb. What is tea? Why has it been so important? As for term tea, that will be covered later. Why tea is most important is it can do a lot for someone. The mere fact that it is still used up to know simply indicates that tea has served and will still serve people because it is significantly useful in many aspects.

What is tea? Tea is an agricultural product. That product can be a beverage or any other supplement, or it can be a meal time. Now that that's covered, I'm sure some of you are asking, "So what's the story?"

As there are many tea variants, it is best said that tea has many stories. Many, even. Legends.

To start off, tea comes from the Camellia sinensis, a family of plants. Its name is taken from the Latin name of Rev. Georg Kamel, S.J. He was a Czech-born priest of the Society of Jesus, sent to the Philippines to spread God's word and one who studies and makes scientific findings when it comes to plants. He did not, however, discover or name the plant. It was zoologist, physician and botanist, Carl Linnaeus who decided to use his name to recognize Kamel's contribution to science itself. There are old names for tea: Thea bohea, Thea viridis, and Thea sinensis.

It is clear that most teas are, in a way, Chinese in name. Not all, of course. Just most of them. With the naming come stories, too. Although not everything or conclusive all in all, here are some that might be of interest:

• Pu-erh, oxidized Green Tea – it was during the Eastern Han Dynasty, 25-220 AD, that is was when the Prime Minister of the Shu State, during the Three Kingdoms Period, Zhu Geliang — also known as "Zhegeliang", known as "Tea Forefather" — taught the folks of the south of Yunnan province how to aesthetically harvest and procure tea. Legend has it that the Six Famous Tea Mountains, located at the north of the river of Lincang, were the names of the items left he left behind. Mansa (seed-sowing bag), Gedeng (leather stirrup), Yi Bang (wooden clapper), Manzhuan (iron brick), Mangzhi (copper boa), and Youle (copper gong). But, then again, this legend has had its changes. It was during the Qing Dynasty, year 1644 to 1911, when more than ten thousand people were tasked to grow this particular tea over the mountains and the town of Simao.

• Yellow Tea - The Yellow Mountain Fur Peak, also called "Huangshan Maofeng", is found in China's Anhui Province. Its story is that of two lovers. Legend has it that there were two lovers residing on this Yellow Mountain living blissfully until a tyrant caught the woman, made her slave and concubine. She managed to escape from the tyrant's grips to discover that her lover has been killed. Deeply depressed by this, it was said that, she cried and cried until, finally, she turned into the rain itself and her dead lover turned into earth and into a bush of tea. It is supposed that this is the reason why the mountain has its peculiar gloomy kind of weather despite producing this tea.

• Oolong Tea; Iron Goddess – Hundreds of years ago, as told by legend, from one generation to another, the Oolong Tea starts with a kind-hearted farmer who went about his business day to day appreciating the natural beauty of nature. He would usually walk and listen to the chirping of the birds and the flow of the river. One day, it so happened that he came about an old ruined temple. This temple had the stone crafted in the image of the goddess of mercy, the Iron Goddess. In his good nature, the farmer would, from day to day, care for place and burn incense to give respect and praise to the goddess. Moved by this, the goddess appeared to the farmer in a dream, giving him instructions that a treasure could be located in a remote cave. It was then that the farmer pursued followed the apparition and pursued the cave to find, deep within, a single shoot of Oolong Tea was found. After taking care of it, cultivating it into a bush, the farmer discovered that it produced a certain liquid that was fulfilling to histaste. This is the story.

• Green Tea – The "Green Snail Spring". Tea pickers, as was said, discovered this particular kind of tea, Pi Lo Chun, and found this quite astounding so much so that they practically filled whatever they had that could be filled, in a way even stealing. They even stuffed their clothes with it. It had a peach, plum and apricot kind of pleasurable smell within the tea bushes. Being underneath the sun on a hot day, the tea gave off a definitive pleasurable kind of smell that people found astounding. That's why it was once called Xia Sha Ren Xiang because of its astounding scent.

Now it's time to drink.

The stories might have made you thirsty in a way and what better way to quench one's thirst than to have a cup of tea. The fragrance, taste, flavor and feeling are that of the ancients to the modern day. Have pleasure in drinking tea and have your own story to tell.

Huang Jiung,
Chinese Weight Loss Tea for BEGINNERS