History of White Tea

 

According to an ancient and long standing Chinese legend, there was an emperor 5,000 years ago named Shen Nung, who was traveling the countryside on the remote regions of China. At one point during his travels, the water that was carried for the trip had gone foul, and it was undrinkable. To remedy this, Shen Nung ordered that the water be boiled to rid it of any foul contaminants. While the water was boiling, a tealeaf blew into it, but the emperor let it steep in the hot water, then he finally drank it. This is how tea came to be.

White tea gained its popularity during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) in China. It was the common choice and preference of the royal court in ancient china, and was commonly given as a tribute of the emporer. The leaves and rare buds of white tea were also commonly ground into a fine silver colored powder, which would then be whisked in bowls during the ancient “Song Tea Ceremony”. This eventually inspired the infamous Japanese “Tea Ceremony”.
The emperor “One Song” was renowned for his never-ending love for white tea. The emperor “Hui Zong” (1101-1125) had actually become so obsessed with locating and procuring the perfect tea, it actually caused him to lose much of his empire and power.

Over the next thousand years, the traditional powdered form of white tea, as well as the Song Tea Ceremony, were eventually abandoned and replaced for the now common loose leaf version of white tea.

White tea has quite a history, and has come a long way. It was universally unknown by those outside of China until recently. Now, with a new interest in healthy and rare tea by most of the world, white tea has been really making a comeback, and showing its beneficial properties the world over.