The Tale of Tea

Preface
1 The Primordial Origins of TeaA Brief Ethnolinguistic PreambleVarieties of Tea Tree and Some Close RelativesThe Original Tea Emerges from the Mists of TimeAn Ancient Trans-Himalayan Root Denoting TeaAn Ancient Austroasiatic Root Denoting TeaFermented Eatable Tea Becomes Fermented Drinkable TeaOld and New Tea Etyma in the Original Tea Homeland
2 Tea Spreads to ChinaShrouded behind the Veil of WritingThe Chinese Characters tú and chá From the Hàn Dynasty to the Suí DynastyTea Becomes Fashionable in the TángA Tea Sage Is Discovered under a Stone BridgeThe Tea Sage Becomes a ManLù Y s Tea Treatise and His Old AgeTea and the Water with Which It Is MadeThe Blossoming of Tea Culture and PorcelainTibet Takes to Tea in the TángTea Is Taxed by the TángThe Sòng under SiegeThe Sophistication of the SòngChinese Tea Culture Blossoms Anew in the MíngA ilha formosaThe Manchu and the Colours of the Chinese RainbowChinese Green TeasWhite Teas and Albino CultivarsChinese Yellow TeasBlue Teas, Swarthy Dragon and Rock TeasChinese Red TeasChinese Fermented or Dark TeasScented Teas, Herbal Infusions, Punch and Cocktails
3 Tea Arrives in Japan and KoreaTea Comes to the Land of the Rising SunTea Comes to Japan yet AgainBuddhist Monastery Tea RitualsTea Tasting Competitions and Bawdy BazaarsN ami Takes Tea from the Tea Pavilion into a Domestic SettingAn Oasis of Calm in a Troubled TimeJ Picks up Where Juk Left OffSen no Riky Tea Schools Arising through the Seven DisciplesTea Schools through Family DescentThe Tea Ceremony FossilisesThe Manufacture of matcha and tenchaJapanese Parched Green Tea or kamairi chaSencha, shincha and bancha

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).

'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)