The legendary story of tea

Tea is called Cha in Chinese. The story of tea in China is so long ago. And there are so many kind of tea in Chinese history. The most oldest story related tea in China is around 4700 years before. But the clearly record related tea is around 2000-3000 years before.

神农尝百草，日遇七十二毒，得荼而解之......《神农本草经》，这是最早关于茶的传说，传说神农有个水晶肚子，能看到吃进去的东西，吃到茶叶有解毒的功效，这也是最早期茶叶具有药用的传说。还有一点可以看出，那时候猜测是采食鲜叶直接吃，最早期没有任何茶叶的加工工艺，当然也有猜测说可能会像中草药一样晒制脱水，类似现在的白茶工艺，都只是传说，无法考证 Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, encountering seventy-two poisons daily, and was cured by tea… This is the earliest legend about tea, found in the *Shennong Bencao Jing* (Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica). Legend has it that Shennong had a crystal belly that allowed him to see what he ate, and that tea leaves had detoxifying properties. This is the earliest legend about the medicinal uses of tea. It's also noted that at that time, it was speculated that fresh leaves were eaten directly, without any processing techniques. There are also speculations that it might have been sun-dried like traditional Chinese medicine, similar to the modern white tea process, but these are just legends and cannot be verified.

“婴相景公时，食脱粟之饭，炙三弋，五卵，茗菜尔”——《晏子春秋》
“树小如栀子，冬生叶，可煮羹饮”——《尔雅》
"吴人采茶煮之，曰茗粥“——《晋书》
上述文献可以看出茶已经开始生煮羹饮。茗粥，茗菜，都明显表明煮羹特征。

"When Ying served Duke Jing, he ate millet porridge, three roasted eggs, five eggs, and tea vegetables"—*Yanzi Chunqiu*

"The tree is small like a gardenia, its leaves grow in winter, and can be boiled into a soup"—*Erya*

"The people of Wu picked tea and boiled it, calling it 'tea porridge'"—*Jin Shu* (Book of Jin). These documents show that tea was already being boiled into a soup. "Tea porridge" and "tea vegetables" clearly indicate the characteristics of this method.

三国时期开始萌芽，采来的叶子先做成饼，直接晒干或者烘干，蒸青制茶法消除青草味，洗涤鲜叶，蒸青压榨，去汁制饼，降低苦涩味。Tea began to sprout during the Three Kingdoms period. The harvested leaves were first made into cakes, then directly sun-dried or oven-dried. A steaming process was used to remove the grassy taste; the fresh leaves were washed, steamed, pressed, and the juice extracted to make cakes, reducing bitterness.

公元前1066年，周武王将巴蜀所产的茶列为贡品，并记载“园有芳蒻香茗”——《华阳国志 • 巴志》而今四川蒙顶山仍有皇茶园，西汉甘露年间，“植茶始祖”吴理真移植种下七株。唐代天宝年间，蒙顶山被确立为贡茶基地。In 1066 BC, King Wu of Zhou listed tea produced in Ba and Shu (Sichuan and Chongqing) as tribute, recording "fragrant tea and reeds in the garden"—*Huayang Guozhi • Ba Zhi*. Even today, there is a royal tea garden on Mengding Mountain in Sichuan. During the Ganlu era of the Western Han Dynasty, Wu Lizhen, considered the "ancestor of tea cultivation," transplanted seven tea plants. During the Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty, Mengding Mountain was established as a tribute tea base.
《僮约》 汉• 王褒(公元前59年）是我国，也是全世界最早的关于饮茶，买茶和种茶的记载。王褒在四川游历时，与寡妇杨舍家奴仆订立的一份契劵：“牵犬贩鹅，武阳买茶”“脍鱼炮鳖，烹茶尽具”The *Tongyue* (僮約), written by Wang Bao of the Han Dynasty (59 BC), is the earliest record in my country and the world of tea drinking, buying, and cultivation. During his travels in Sichuan, Wang Bao signed a contract with a servant of the widowed Yang She household: "To lead dogs and sell geese, to buy tea in Wuyang," and "To prepare fish and turtle, and to have all the necessary utensils for brewing tea." 
中国乃至全世界现存最早，最完整，最全面介绍茶的第一部专著《茶经》问世，由唐代茶圣陆羽所著。The earliest, most complete, and most comprehensive extant monograph on tea in China and even the world, the *Classic of Tea*, was published, written by Lu Yu, the Tea Sage of the Tang Dynasty.
“晴，采之。蒸之，捣之，拍之，焙之，穿之，封之，茶之干矣”——《茶经》由此能清楚的看到整个茶叶的制作流程，包括保存方法。"On a sunny day, pick it. Steam it, pound it, flatten it, bake it, thread it, seal it, and the tea is dry"—the *Classic of Tea* clearly shows the entire tea-making process, including preservation methods.
《北苑别录》宋代 • 赵汝励文献记录龙团凤饼的图案大小以及御苑採茶歌十首。如今，武夷山御茶园仍在。The *Beiyuan Bielu*, a Song Dynasty document by Zhao Ruli, records the patterns and sizes of dragon and phoenix tea cakes, as well as ten songs about picking tea in the imperial garden. Today, the Wuyi Mountain Imperial Tea Garden still exists.

   

In traditional Chinese culture, the varieties of tea is distinguished by the color of liquid and the degree of fermentation. Therefore, red tea in Chinese refers to tea water with a reddish-brown colour. The same tea is called black tea in English for the colour of dry tea without water is black.

 

So, in the selling of Purple Pavilion, the red Tea is Black in English. And the Black tea is 100% fermented  tea.

 

 

	Type	Degree of fermentation
Unfermented	Green	0%	Gunpowder, Longjin, etc.
Lightly/Slightly fermented	White or Yellow
Semi-fermented	Oolong	15%
		20%
		30%
		40%
		70%
Fully fermented	Black(Red in Chinese)	100%
Post-fermented tea	Dark(Black in Chinese)		Pu'er <Fu Brick

 

Black Tea (Red Tea in Chinese language for the reason of colour of liquid)

The red tea in Purple Pavilion are coming from two provinces, Gui Zhou and Yun Nan. The Yunnan is also called Dian, so one tea is also called Dian Red Tea.

 

 

Dark Tea (Black Tea in Chinese language including Fu Brick Tea)

From 1068, tea of Fu Brick has been drink by Chinese for thousand years especially on Silk Road. Fu is processed in specially days for appear of eurotium cristatum inside. The eurotium cristatum with tea itself have the double effect to benefit digestion system with eight functions. Low down blood lipids; losing weight; body shaping; low down sugar in blood; low down uric acid; protecting liver; anti-radiation and low down the rate of digestive cancer. 4g tea with 200 ml boil water. Keep away from moisture and drinking before night is bad.