TITLE:
Evolution of Chinese Ancient Tea Technology and Its Transfer to British India
AUTHORS:
Vithiyapathy Purushothaman, Song Wei
KEYWORDS:
Ancient Chinese Tea Technology, Indian Tea Technology, British India
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.11 No.3,
March
29,
2023
ABSTRACT: From recorded history, tea has emerged as a refreshing drink for humans.
Tea-producing technology has developed through various dynasties in China. The
Silk Road trade and maritime silk route exported tea to destinations in the
east, west, south, and southeast Asian counties and African and southern
European ports. When the thirst for tea increased in the western countries and
their colonies, Europeans began tea trading in the 17th century by establishing
the East India Companies. British East India is one of the European traders to
exchange silver with China for buying tea. However, Britain found it a costlier
trade for them to pursue for a long time. Thus, it found an alternative in the
land of the Assam region in northeast India. Tea seeds and farmers were
initially brought from China to establish the tea industry. It has also planted
teas in other areas of India and tested the possibility of tea production using
ancient tea cultivation knowledge from China. Therefore, the British
successfully transferred ancient knowledge and tea manufacturing technologies
from China to establish the tea industry in India. The paper will analyze the
evolution of ancient tea manufacturing knowledge of China and inquire how
Britain transferred it along with the tea seeds and farmers for establishing
and developing the tea industry in British India.