Introduction
to Japanese Tea
By Han Yubing
Powdered
tea, or macha, and green tea both came from China. People began
drinking tea in China some 2,000 years ago.
In
Chinese myth, early inhabitants searched in the mountains for medicines
and were poisoned by 72 kinds of plants. But in the end, their lives
were saved by drinking tea. From then on, people continued drinking
the tea as medicine.
In
the Heian period, tea was introduced to Japan by a Japanese priest
who gave it to the Emperor. After that, in the 12th century, how
to serve tea was introduced into Japan also from China.
The
first book about growing tea was written in the 15th century. At
that time, the tea was used only by the upper classes who treated
it as an event.
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