What Mrs. Quinn Learned in her Research for 7th Grade Social Studies Tea What Mrs. Quinn Learned in her Research for 7th Grade Social Studies

Early Legends Tea leaves from a nearby bush blew into a cauldron of boiling water and Shen Nung drank it. “What a refreshing drink,” he thought.

Early Legends An Indian prince wanted to pray longer. He chewed tea leaves to stay awake. My favorite story is how this monk cut off his eyelids to stay awake and a tea shrub grew where the lids landed.

Where Does Tea Come From? Tea is harvested from tea shrubs. Only the newest leaves at the top of the bush are picked.

Let’s Learn More about Processing Tea! Check out http://www.stashtea.com/teawhere.htm to find out how tea is created.

Drinking Tea The Japanese ground tea leaves into a powder, poured boiling water over the powder, and “whisked” the tea. The Chinese dipped (called “steeping”) tea leaves into hot water to brew tea.

Tea in Literature Tea was so popular that Lu Yu, a Chinese scholar, wrote a book Ch’a Ching, The Classic of Tea. The book made tea even more popular in the 700s.

The Ch’a Ching This book included the history of tea. The book also explained how to properly make tea.

Lu Yu’s Advice about Tea Tea leaves should only be picked on a clear day. Twenty-four tools were needed to correctly make tea. If you don’t have all of these tools, don’t make tea. Water for tea should come from a slow-flowing mountain stream.

Lu Yu’s Advice about Drinking Tea Sip your tea slowly and quietly. Three cups of tea are fine, but five cups are too many. Do not add items such as ginger, orange peels, peppermint, or onions to your tea. If you must add something to your tea, salt is okay.

The Japanese Tea Ceremony Eisai was a Zen Buddhist monk who introduced the tea ceremony to Japan in 1191. He also wrote a book, the Kitcha-Yojoki. (The Book of Tea Sanitation)

Steps of the Japanese Ceremony The ceremony takes place in the host’s tea room. In a separate room called the midsuya, the tea utensils are washed and arranged. The guests wait in a third room, the machiai.

More Steps to the Ceremony Guests walk a path through a garden (roji) to the tea room. Guests enter silently through a low door. Samurais were expected to leave their swords on the rack by the door.

Even More Steps to the Ceremony Once they entered the tea room, guests would admire the host’s decorations and tea set. The host greeted the head guest by bowing and offering a sweet candy called kashiki. Host prepared the tea for guests.

And Even More Steps After receiving their tea, guests were expected to thank the host. A good guest always left an empty cup!

Tea: A Favorite Drink in Many Countries China Japan England Russia India

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