The Tale of Tea

The Tale of Tea presents a comprehensive history of tea from prehistoric times to the present day in a single volume, covering the fascinating social history of tea and the origins, botany and biochemistry of this singularly important cultigen.


The Tale of Tea is the saga of globalisation. Tea gave birth to paper money, the Opium Wars and Hong Kong, triggered the Anglo-Dutch wars and the American war of independence, shaped the economies and military history of Táng and Sòng China and moulded Chinese art and culture. Whilst black tea dominates the global market today, such tea is a recent invention. No tea plantations existed in the world's largest black tea producing countries, India, Kenya and Sri Lanka, when the Dutch and the English went to war about tea in the 17th century. This book replaces popular myths about tea with recondite knowledge on the hidden origins and detailed history of today's globalised beverage in its many modern guises.


Autorentext
George van Driem directs the Linguistics Institute at the University of Bern, where he occupies the Chair of Historical Linguistics. He has written grammars of Limbu, Dzongkha, Bumthang and Dumi and authored the two-volume ethnolinguistic handbook Languages of the Himalayas (Brill, 2001).

Klappentext
The Tale of Tea presents a comprehensive history of tea from prehistoric times to the present day in a single volume, covering the fascinating social history of tea and the origins, botany and biochemistry of this singularly important cultigen.


Zusammenfassung
'The Tale of Tea traces the history of tea from the mists of its mountainous homeland to dynastic China, Japan, Korea, and the Indian Ocean under Portuguese, Dutch, and British imperialism. It highlights the globalizing dynamics, including the wars, hierarchies, economical systems, and political structures effectuated by mankind's unquenchable thirst for the beverage. From an elaborate discussion on tea cultures worldwide (including those of Africa, South America, and the Pacific), the book moves to cuisines influenced by tea, the chemistry behind it, and, finally, the interrelated issues of modern-day tea cultivation and environmental sustainability. The Tale of Tea is mostly chronological, but occasionally hops between time periods when it is thematically justified.(...) The book equips beginners and experts alike with the knowledge to talk about tea confidently.(...) It is nothing short of a must-read for anyone genuinely interested in tea. Its value for tea enthusiasts outside the academic world, is almost self-evident. I have no doubt it will be warmly received by tea companies, museums, and online discussion groups.' - Tom Hoogervorst, KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, Leiden, The Netherlands, in: BKI,176: 2-3 (2020)

Inhalt
Preface
1 The Primordial Origins of Tea A Brief Ethnolinguistic Preamble Varieties of Tea Tree and Some Close Relatives The Original Tea Emerges from the Mists of Time An Ancient Trans-Himalayan Root Denoting Tea An Ancient Austroasiatic Root Denoting Tea Fermented Eatable Tea Becomes Fermented Drinkable Tea Old and New Tea Etyma in the Original Tea Homeland
2 Tea Spreads to China Shrouded behind the Veil of Writing The Chinese Characters tú and chá From the Hàn Dynasty to the Suí Dynasty Tea Becomes Fashionable in the Táng A Tea Sage Is Discovered under a Stone Bridge The Tea Sage Becomes a Man Lù Y s Tea Treatise and His Old Age Tea and the Water with Which It Is Made The Blossoming of Tea Culture and Porcelain Tibet Takes to Tea in the Táng Tea Is Taxed by the Táng The Sòng under Siege The Sophistication of the Sòng Chinese Tea Culture Blossoms Anew in the Míng A ilha formosa The Manchu and the Colours of the Chinese Rainbow Chinese Green Teas White Teas and Albino Cultivars Chinese Yellow Teas Blue Teas, Swarthy Dragon and Rock Teas Chinese Red Teas Chinese Fermented or Dark Teas Scented Teas, Herbal Infusions, Punch and Cocktails
3 Tea Arrives in Japan and Korea Tea Comes to the Land of the Rising Sun Tea Comes to Japan yet Again Buddhist Monastery Tea Rituals Tea Tasting Competitions and Bawdy Bazaars N ami Takes Tea from the Tea Pavilion into a Domestic Setting An Oasis of Calm in a Troubled Time J Picks up Where Juk Left Off Sen no Riky Tea Schools Arising through the Seven Disciples Tea Schools through Family Descent The Tea Ceremony Fossilises The Manufacture of matcha and tencha Japanese Parched Green Tea or kamairi cha Sencha, shincha and bancha Kabusecha, Gyokuro and the Flavour Umami Miscellaneous Other Types of Japanese Tea Japanese Tea Culture Travels Abroad Japanese Tea Cultivars and Tea Production Innovations and Nostalgic Retentions in Japanese Tea A Non-Japanese Drink with a Japanese Name Tea Reaches the Korean Peninsula The Renaissance of Korean Tea
4 East Meets West: the Intrepid Portuguese Getting into Hot Water Tea by way of the Silk Route Setting Sail for Cipangu A Surprise Welcome Silk and Silver Rather Than Tea Uma chávena de chá The Tea Ceremony, Oolong Tea and Saying Mass More Reports of the Tea Ceremony Ricci and Rodrigues Jewels of the East
5 Dutch Capitalism and the Globalisation of Tea A Dutchman in Goa and a Landlubber in Bordeaux The Birth of Capitalism Amor vincit omnia The Japanese Word Is Replaced by the Hokkien Word Tea Comes into Vogue in the Low Countries A Dutch Doctor Prescribes Tea and a Portuguese Jesuit Admires Eastern Mores A More Famous Dutch Physician Prescribes Tea and Tea at the Siamese Court A Third Dutch Doctor Extols the Virtues of Tea A Milanese Jesuit in Cochin China A French Jesuit Binges on Tea in Tonkin An Italian Jesuit from Hángzh u and a French Priest from Siam Taking Tea a Hundred Times a Day A Dutch Preacher in Ceylon and the East Indies Tea and the Travels of Tavernier The Baroque Dutch Spelling of a Hokkien Word A Persian Interlude
6 The English Take to Tea: Wars in Europe Tea as a Plant Species The English Take to Tea Yet Another Influential Dutch Tea Doctor The First Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War The Third Anglo-Dutch War The Catherine Myth France, French Tea and Tea with Milk On Taking Sugar in One s Tea The New Tradition of English Afternoon Tea Government Greed and the Changing English Taste for Tea Early Types of Tea Imported to Europe Tea to the Barbary Coast
7 Interlude: Coffee and Chocolate Vicissitudes of Fortune and Fashion The First Tidings of Coffee Reach Europe The Coffee Homeland in the Kingdom of Caffa Coffee Is Adopted in Arabia and Then in Turkey Tidings of Coffee Are Sent to Italy Antique Oral Tradition vs. Modern Myth Islamic Apologetics on behalf of Coffee The English First Take to Coffee and Then the Dutch The Wine of the Sufis Becomes a Global Commodity Coffee Comes to Vienna, Whilst Fashions Change in the West Good to the Last Dropping Europeans Discover the Drink of the Aztecs and the May…