The origin of tea

In ancient times the land of China was called Shenzhuo, the Divine land. As it was believed that the culture was bestowed upon the Chinese people through Gods. So it was therefore a semi-divine culture. In every aspect of the traditional culture you can find the wish to align human thought and activity with a greater principle. Which is also at the core of all the traditional Chinese arts.

Likewise the oldest legend about the origin of tea tells about Shen Nong (the heavenly farmer) whom was also called the Yan Emperor. He was seen as a god that lived among people in order to pass on all kinds of knowledge to people. Shen Nong was credited with inventing farming and identifying herbs for medicinal purpose.

One day Shen Nong was resting under a tree while a servant was cooking water for him, a breeze snapped the leaves of a wild camellia tree and they dropped into the pot of boiling water. The water turned golden brown. Shen Nong drank the water and found it both refreshing and energizing. After that he drank tea every day and passed it on to the Chinese people.

Another famous legend about the origin of tea is about Bodhidharma (495 AC) the first patriarch of Chan Buddhism. He came to China from India to spread the Buddhist Dharma. He vowed that he would travel during the day and meditate at night instead of sleeping. After five years he was so sleepy that he could not keep his eyelids open and fell asleep. When he woke up he was so angry about this that he cut of his eyelids and threw them on the ground. Instantly the eyelids transformed into roots from which two bushes grew. Bodhidharma tasted the leaves and found them energizing and he felt miraculously clear minded. The Japanese character “cha” means both tea and eyelid. For centuries tea has been served in monasteries in order to keep the minds of the monks clear and vigilant during the sitting meditation.

In our view it is not so important whether these legends were true or not or whether they can be proven or not. It is of more importance what kind of meaning the stories try to convey.