Tea Legends

Tea is truly one of the planet’s oldest traditions. So old that we have no historic record to indicate where it originated. The story of tea is long-lasting, five thousand years old, and full of intricacies.

According to a Chinese legend, tea was discovered accidentally by emperor Shen-Nung approximately 3,000 years before Christ as follows: The emperor set up camp with his entourage in the shade of a large tree. A fire was made and a pot with boiling water was prepared. The heat of the fire brought some of the leaves of the long branches of the tree to dry out. Suddenly, a fierce wind got up and blew some of the leaves into the pot with boiling water. The water turned golden and a delicious scent appeared. The emperor tried the drink and was delighted by the scent and delicious taste. Being immediately aware of the refreshing and invigorating effect, the emperor let out the sound “T’sa”, meaning godlike so that, until today, “cha” is the name for tea in Chinese.

In Japan, the popular tale claims that the Bodhidharma discovered tea.  It is said that the Bodhidharma was sitting in meditation for seven years before he became too tired to stay awake.  He then sliced off his eyelids to prevent sleep and threw them on the ground where they became tea trees.  After picking some of the tea leaves and chewing them, he felt energetic, and he concluded that the tea helped him to stay awake. The delicious taste and scent were reason enough to see this drink as “divine”. Until today the Japanese language uses the same character for eyelid and tea This is the Japanese story of the origin of tea.

The Indian version of the legend is slightly different.

In the year 500 after Christ, the Fakir Dharma took the vow not to sleep for 7 years. After 5 years of mental immersion it appeared that he could no longer fight the need to sleep. Full of desperation due to knowing he would not be able to keep his vow, he grasped a couple of branches of the tree where he had made his camp. He put a few leaves into his mouth and chewed them. Immediately, Dharma experienced a refreshing and invigorating effect, his tiredness evaporated and he could keep his vow.

Everybody loves this tale because it is fantastic and makes the connection between tea and meditation.