The tea ceremony history of China

In September 2024, the Palace Museum held an exhibition titled “Tea. The World”, during which the world’s earliest known tea remains were displayed for the first time. These remains were unearthed from Tomb No. 1 in the Xigang Cemetery of the ancient Zoucheng capital site of the State of Zhu in Shandong Province, dating back to the early Warring States period. In a piece of primitive porcelain bowl, residues of boiled (or steeped) tea leaves were discovered.   Previously, the earliest known physical tea remains were those unearthed from the Han Yangling Mausoleum of Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty.This discovery in the State of Zhu pushes back the physical evidence of the origin of tea culture to the early Warring States period (453–410 BCE), over 300 years earlier than previously known.

From the Warring States period onward, throughout more than 2,000 years of dynastic changes in China, tea has remained a central beverage in Chinese daily life. The practice of whisked or boiled tea reached both aesthetic and practical heights during the Tang and Song dynasties and was introduced to Japan, where it laid the foundation for the early Japanese tea ceremony. Even today, Japanese tea ceremony still preserves many elements of Tang and Song dynasty tea culture. Unfortunately, this heritage has not been well preserved in China itself. During the Tang and Song periods, many exquisite tea wares emerged, such as the Jianzhan (Jian ware tea bowls).   After the Song dynasty, beginning in the Ming dynasty, Chinese tea drinking shifted from the whisked tea method of the Tang and Song dynasties to the brewing of roasted tea leaves. This transition brought significant changes to tea customs and tea ware, with Yixing purple clay teapots gaining widespread use. This method of using roasted tea leaves has persisted for over 600 years, from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the present day.