When writing and/or speaking about tea in Burma, or some other country for that matter, it's inevitable to depart on the journey to the realm of tea in China - in south-west China to be precise - for that is as I'll explain in the following definitely from where tea is originally coming from.
The discussion on if the real history of Burmese tea and the drinking of tea in Burma have originated in China has probably more to do with at the very least some Bamars'/Burmans' reluctance to admit that the origin of tea is China and that the drinking of tea was adopted by them later from the Shan, than with tea, tea drinking and Taiwan Tea culture itself. The important points are that tea both as plant and beverage was discovered and had become important element of Chinese and later Shan culture already at the same time when no Bamar/Burman had ever set foot into what is nowadays Burma (since 1989 also referred to as Myanmar).
Quite simply the very first kingdom of the Bamar the 'kingdom of Pagan' (that was really founded by the Pyu, and while we're at it, Anawrahta, the 42nd king of Pagan who's by the Bamar/Burman considered the founder of the first Burman kingdom was a Pyu, not a Bamar/Burman) did in those days not exist what is already the definite response to the question of the origin of tea, tea drinking and tea culture in Burma; Burma or any predecessor of it just didn't exist in or during the era involved, period. But why are there still people (not so many of them, though) who in the facial skin of most facts and logic claim that Burmese tea, tea drinking and tea culture are not originated in China? Short answer: Because the location which was in pre-Bamar time inhabited by the Shan is now laying partly within the far north east of Burma. However, why these areas are nowadays located within Burma's boundaries does not necessarily mean that the actual area by which Camellia sinensis was found and from where it then spread to India, through all of south-east Asia and, finally, across the world lies within north-east Burma. It is possible nonetheless it is also possible that Camellia sinensis - translated from Latin into English the name means 'Tea flower' (camellia) 'from China' (sinensis) - has at a later point in time extended into the location now covered by the north-eastern element of Burma.
The book of tea is a guide with many pages and chapters starting shrouded in the mist of myth and legend sometime in 3000 BC. There's even the concrete date 2725 BC mentioned what is linking the (accidental) discovery and the later drinking of tea to the Chinese emperor Shen Nung about who I will show you more a little later. Nobody really knows when it had been that the drinking of tea (what in those days was always green tea because it had been unfermented also referred to as unoxidised) started to become element of Chinese culture. That is why it can not be within the scope of this informative article to (as interesting as this may be) deal with related myths, legends and folklore in order to reveal tea history's secret of when and where this is and how it happened. The clear answer to this question won't be found anyway what means that it will for always remain hidden behind the curtain of legend. Therefore we have to get facts in the proper execution of written records and archaeological finds that'll give us tea related information we're looking for. And in terms of that is worried we do not have to search for long.
We are given the very first reliable information in a Chinese encyclopaedia which was grew to become compiled and written during the Han Dynasty sometime around 325 BC and further expanded from then on: its name is Erya also spelled Erh-ya. The author of the Erya is unknown but it's among scholars accepted that have already been disciples of Confucius. Here we find records letting us know that tea was already known and drunken at the very least at the start of the Zhou Dynasty in 1046 BC, probably earlier. However, it's not specified whether it was tea brewed from camellia sinensis leaves and drunken for pleasure or some herbal not likely very delicious tea drunken for medical purposes only.
From later records we know that brewing and drinking tea was already area of the Chinese people's everyday activity at the start of the Han Dynasty in 206 B.C. or even earlier. That the drinking of tea has so relatively quick permeated the Chinese culture would certainly not have been possible without Buddhist monks. It had been the Buddhist monk orders which have not merely spread the drinking of tea among the populace but that had also taken over the planting and processing of tea. Immediately after tea as beverage have been introduced during the Han Dynasty, Buddhism was associated with tea. The Buddhist monks have very early recognised that tea was a low priced and refreshing beverage with good taste and fragrance that kept them awake.
From the by Lu Yu during the Tang Dynasty written and at about 760 AD published book 'The Classic of Tea' (Cha Jing in Chinese) we could take that green tea was known and drunken throughout all of China for pleasure from 618 AD, or earlier on. For Lu Yu tea was the symbol of harmony and mysterious unity of the Universe where we could observe highly he thought of tea.
A sensational discovery would (at the time with this writing in 2016) 1255 years later prove Lu Yun wrong in in terms of green tea was already a well known beverage in south and west China prior to when 141 BC. The a.m. sensational discovery was that it was proven that leaves found in the tomb of the 6th Emperor of the western Han Dynasty, Emperor Jin of Han (Liu Qi), where actual (Camellia sinensis) tea leaves that got him along with 1000s of clay soldiers and many other things as grave advantageous to the journey into his afterlife. In order to avoid confusion, the emperor's tomb was already discovered in the 1990s during road construction work, which in itself (not the road construction nevertheless the discovery of the Emperor's tomb) was a global sensation. However, regarding the contents of this informative article the finding of the tea leaves was even more sensational because these tea leaves are the absolute most ancient and finest tea leaves ever discovered what has earned them an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as 'The world's oldest tea leaves' ;.
As with so many other things the beginning of drinking tea is steeped in legend. You can find different stories about how precisely the very first chapter of the book of tea begins and having read them I came to the final outcome that 99.99 percent of them belong to the realm of legends. One of typically the most popular Chinese legends is the with great pleasure again and again told legend about an emperor's pot of hot water that happened to be placed exactly under a tea tree where tea leaves were sure to drop to the pot. Naturally, oh wonder (how could it be any different) tea leaves fell to the pot with boiling water whereupon the emperor took out of curiosity a sip of the previously unknown now slightly yellowish-brown coloured water. He was, since the legend goes, so excited concerning the fragrance and taste that from then on he made tea his favourite beverage and the drinking of tea became element of Chinese culture. The emperor in this legend is the mythological emperor Shen Nung also spelled Shannong, Shen Nong who's by the Chinese worshipped since the 'Divine Farmer' and the 'Father of Chinese Herbal Medicine' ;.He was what is nowadays called 'pharmacologist', and it's believed that he has 'lived' 140 years, from 2838 BC to 2698 BC. That is undoubtedly all pure legend but its origin might be viewed contrary to the backdrop of the fact that Shen Nung was herbalist and that tea was at the start used as herbal medicine in both solid (as vegetable or salad) and/or liquid form (as tea).
What's tea and where's it originated? Briefly put, tea is a beverage commonly comprising of water and natural (uncured) and cured tea leaves of the species camellia sinensis. That is, as previously said, an evergreen shrub native to Asia that may when it remains untouched grow in the wilderness into a tree with a height of some 55 ft/ 17 m. In addition, why do we call tea, tea? Allow me to briefly explain where in actuality the name 'tea' originated and from where it spread round the world. The name 'tea' has its origin in China where 2 names are used for the exact same beverage. It is called 'Cha' in Mandarin dialect and 'Tay' in Xiamenese dialect. In 1644 the British established a trading post in Xiamen and anglicised the Xiamenese 'tay' what, subsequently, became 'tea' a title that in the following time quickly spread through and was accepted by the English speaking world.
Where exactly is Camellia sinensis originated? As unbelievable because it sounds and whatever we might think about it, extensive and detailed research has led to the end result that tea plant - the Camellia sinensis - was not a place that had or might have evolved and grown independently in a number of areas of the planet but astonishingly enough only inside a relatively small area positioned in and confined to an area that does include areas of what is nowadays the Shan state (as north and north-eastern area of the in those days not existing Burma) and the Chinese provinces Yunnan and Sichuan.
But whether 'Burmese' tea has its origin in China (what it has) or not, or if the drinking of tea became area of the Burman's culture only after it had been introduced in their mind by the Shan (what it was) or if the famous 'Burmese milk tea is actually Indian tea introduced by the Indian - and NOT British - people during British colonial times (what it had been and is) does really not matter much - if anything at all - because the fact remains that 'Taiwan Tea' has with time (trough all of the Bamar/Burman kingdoms, the British colonial times and the past-independence time) progressed into an intrinsic area of the so-called 'Burmese drink and food culture' what it remains to be to this day and will always be wherewith I have now 'beamed' us from the ancient past to the present.
