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TED-ED, The history of tea - Shunan Teng

The history of tea - Shunan Teng

During a long day spent roaming the forest in search of edible grains and herbs, the weary divine farmer Shennong accidentally poisoned himself 72 times.

But before the poisons could end his life, a leaf drifted into his mouth. He chewed on it and it revived him, and that is how we discovered tea. Or so an ancient legend goes at least. Tea doesn't actually cure poisonings, but the story of Shennong, the mythical Chinese inventor of agriculture, highlights tea's importance to ancient China.

Archaeological evidence suggests tea was first cultivated there as early as 6,000 years ago, or 1,500 years before the pharaohs built the Great Pyramids of Giza.

That original Chinese tea plant is the same type that's grown around the world today, yet it was originally consumed very differently. It was eaten as a vegetable or cooked with grain porridge. Tea only shifted from food to drink 1,500 years ago when people realized that a combination of heat and moisture could create a complex and varied taste out of the leafy green. After hundreds of years of variations to the preparation method, the standard became to heat tea, pack it into portable cakes, grind it into powder, mix with hot water, and create a beverage called muo cha, or matcha.

Matcha became so popular that a distinct Chinese tea culture emerged. Tea was the subject of books and poetry, the favorite drink of emperors, and a medium for artists. They would draw extravagant pictures in the foam of the tea, very much like the espresso art you might see in coffee shops today. In the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty, a Japanese monk brought the first tea plant to Japan.

The Japanese eventually developed their own unique rituals around tea, leading to the creation of the Japanese tea ceremony. And in the 14th century during the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese emperor shifted the standard from tea pressed into cakes to loose leaf tea. At that point, China still held a virtual monopoly on the world's tea trees, making tea one of three essential Chinese export goods, along with porcelain and silk. This gave China a great deal of power and economic influence as tea drinking spread around the world.

That spread began in earnest around the early 1600s when Dutch traders brought tea to Europe in large quantities. Many credit Queen Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese noble woman, for making tea popular with the English aristocracy when she married King Charles II in 1661. At the time, Great Britain was in the midst of expanding its colonial influence and becoming the new dominant world power.

And as Great Britain grew, interest in tea spread around the world. By 1700, tea in Europe sold for ten times the price of coffee and the plant was still only grown in China. The tea trade was so lucrative that the world's fastest sailboat, the clipper ship, was born out of intense competition between Western trading companies. All were racing to bring their tea back to Europe first to maximize their profits. At first, Britain paid for all this Chinese tea with silver.

When that proved too expensive, they suggested trading tea for another substance, opium. This triggered a public health problem within China as people became addicted to the drug. Then in 1839, a Chinese official ordered his men to destroy massive British shipments of opium as a statement against Britain's influence over China. This act triggered the First Opium War between the two nations. Fighting raged up and down the Chinese coast until 1842 when the defeated Qing Dynasty ceded the port of Hong Kong to the British and resumed trading on unfavorable terms. The war weakened China's global standing for over a century.

The British East India company also wanted to be able to grow tea themselves and further control the market. So they commissioned botanist Robert Fortune to steal tea from China in a covert operation. He disguised himself and took a perilous journey through China's mountainous tea regions, eventually smuggling tea trees and experienced tea workers into Darjeeling, India. From there, the plant spread further still, helping drive tea's rapid growth as an everyday commodity.

Today, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and from sugary Turkish Rize tea, to salty Tibetan butter tea, there are almost as many ways of preparing the beverage as there are cultures on the globe.

The history of tea - Shunan Teng Die Geschichte des Tees - Shunan Teng La historia del té - Shunan Teng L'histoire du thé - Shunan Teng La storia del tè - Shunan Teng お茶の歴史 - 周南廳 차의 역사 - 수난텅 Arbatos istorija - Shunan Teng Historia herbaty - Shunan Teng A história do chá - Shunan Teng История чая - Шунань Тэн Çayın tarihi - Shunan Teng Історія чаю - Шунан Тенг 茶的历史-舒南腾 茶的历史 - Shunan Teng

During a long day spent roaming the forest in search of edible grains and herbs, the weary divine farmer Shennong accidentally poisoned himself 72 times. Au cours d'une longue journée passée à parcourir la forêt à la recherche de grains et d'herbes comestibles, le divin fermier Shennong, épuisé, s'est accidentellement empoisonné 72 fois. Durante um longo dia passado a vaguear pela floresta em busca de grãos e ervas comestíveis, o cansado agricultor divino Shennong envenenou-se acidentalmente 72 vezes. В течение долгого дня, проведенного в блуждании по лесу в поисках съедобных зерен и трав, утомленный божественный фермер Шэньнун случайно отравил себя 72 раза.

But before the poisons could end his life, a leaf drifted into his mouth. Mais avant que les poisons ne mettent fin à sa vie, une feuille s'est glissée dans sa bouche. Mas antes que os venenos pudessem acabar com a sua vida, uma folha entrou-lhe na boca. Но прежде чем яд успел покончить с его жизнью, в рот ему залетел лист. He chewed on it and it revived him, and that is how we discovered tea. Ele mastigou-a e ela reanimou-o, e foi assim que descobrimos o chá. Он пожевал его, и это оживило его, и так мы открыли для себя чай. Or so an ancient legend goes at least. またはそう古代の伝説は少なくとも行きます。 Pelo menos é o que diz uma antiga lenda. По крайней мере, так гласит древняя легенда. Tea doesn’t actually cure poisonings, but the story of Shennong, the mythical Chinese inventor of agriculture, highlights tea’s importance to ancient China. お茶は実際には中毒を治しませんが、神農の神農の物語は、古代中国にとってお茶の重要性を浮き彫りにします。 O chá não cura de facto os envenenamentos, mas a história de Shennong, o mítico inventor chinês da agricultura, realça a importância do chá para a China antiga. На самом деле чай не лечит отравления, но история Шэннуна, мифического китайского изобретателя сельского хозяйства, подчеркивает важность чая для древнего Китая.

Archaeological evidence suggests tea was first cultivated there as early as 6,000 years ago, or 1,500 years before the pharaohs built the Great Pyramids of Giza. Des preuves archéologiques suggèrent que le thé y a été cultivé pour la première fois il y a 6 000 ans, soit 1 500 ans avant que les pharaons ne construisent les grandes pyramides de Gizeh. As provas arqueológicas sugerem que o chá foi cultivado pela primeira vez há 6000 anos, ou seja, 1500 anos antes de os faraós construírem as Grandes Pirâmides de Gizé.

That original Chinese tea plant is the same type that’s grown around the world today, yet it was originally consumed very differently. A planta original do chá chinês é o mesmo tipo que é cultivado atualmente em todo o mundo, mas o seu consumo original era muito diferente. It was eaten as a vegetable or cooked with grain porridge. Era consumido como legume ou cozinhado com papas de cereais. Tea only shifted from food to drink 1,500 years ago when people realized that a combination of heat and moisture could create a complex and varied taste out of the leafy green. お茶は、1500年前、熱と湿気の組み合わせが葉物野菜から複雑で多様な味を生み出す可能性があることに人々が気付いたときに、食べ物から飲み物に変わっただけです。 O chá só passou de alimento a bebida há 1500 anos, quando as pessoas perceberam que uma combinação de calor e humidade podia criar um sabor complexo e variado a partir da folha verde. After hundreds of years of variations to the preparation method, the standard became to heat tea, pack it into portable cakes, grind it into powder, mix with hot water, and create a beverage called muo cha, or matcha. 何百年にもわたる製法のバリエーションを経て、お茶を温め、持ち運び可能なケーキに詰め、粉末に粉砕し、お湯と混ぜて、ムオチャ（抹茶）と呼ばれる飲み物を作るのが標準になりました。 Após centenas de anos de variações no método de preparação, o padrão passou a ser aquecer o chá, embalá-lo em bolos portáteis, triturá-lo em pó, misturá-lo com água quente e criar uma bebida chamada muo cha, ou matcha.

Matcha became so popular that a distinct Chinese tea culture emerged. Le matcha est devenu si populaire qu'une culture du thé chinoise distincte a vu le jour. 抹茶の人気が高まり、独特の中国茶文化が生まれました。 O Matcha tornou-se tão popular que surgiu uma cultura de chá chinesa distinta. Tea was the subject of books and poetry, the favorite drink of emperors, and a medium for artists. お茶は本や詩の主題であり、皇帝のお気に入りの飲み物であり、芸術家にとっての媒体でした。 O chá foi tema de livros e poesia, a bebida preferida dos imperadores e um meio de comunicação para os artistas. They would draw extravagant pictures in the foam of the tea, very much like the espresso art you might see in coffee shops today. Ils dessinaient des images extravagantes dans la mousse du thé, un peu comme l'art de l'espresso que l'on peut voir aujourd'hui dans les cafés. Faziam desenhos extravagantes na espuma do chá, muito parecidos com a arte do café expresso que se vê atualmente nos cafés. In the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty, a Japanese monk brought the first tea plant to Japan. No século IX, durante a dinastia Tang, um monge japonês trouxe a primeira planta de chá para o Japão.

The Japanese eventually developed their own unique rituals around tea, leading to the creation of the Japanese tea ceremony. 日本人はやがてお茶に関する独自の儀式を発展させ、日本の茶道の創設につながりました。 Os japoneses acabaram por desenvolver os seus próprios rituais únicos em torno do chá, o que levou à criação da cerimónia do chá japonesa. And in the 14th century during the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese emperor shifted the standard from tea pressed into cakes to loose leaf tea. そして明代の14世紀に、中国の皇帝は標準をケーキにプレスされたお茶からルーズリーフティーに移しました。 E no século XIV, durante a dinastia Ming, o imperador chinês mudou o padrão do chá prensado em bolos para o chá de folhas soltas. At that point, China still held a virtual monopoly on the world’s tea trees, making tea one of three essential Chinese export goods, along with porcelain and silk. その時点で、中国は依然として世界の茶の木を事実上独占しており、茶は磁器や絹と並んで、中国の3つの重要な輸出品の1つになっています。 Nessa altura, a China ainda detinha praticamente o monopólio das árvores de chá do mundo, o que fazia do chá um dos três principais produtos de exportação chineses, juntamente com a porcelana e a seda. This gave China a great deal of power and economic influence as tea drinking spread around the world. Cela a conféré à la Chine un grand pouvoir et une grande influence économique, tandis que la consommation de thé se répandait dans le monde entier. これは、お茶を飲むことが世界中に広まったので、中国に大きな力と経済的影響を与えました。 Isto conferiu à China um grande poder e influência económica, à medida que o consumo de chá se espalhava pelo mundo.

That spread began in earnest around the early 1600s when Dutch traders brought tea to Europe in large quantities. Cette diffusion a commencé pour de bon au début des années 1600, lorsque les marchands hollandais ont introduit le thé en Europe en grandes quantités. その広がりは、オランダの商人がヨーロッパに大量のお茶を持ち込んだ1600年代初頭頃に本格的に始まりました。 Esta difusão começou a sério no início de 1600, quando os comerciantes holandeses trouxeram chá para a Europa em grandes quantidades. Many credit Queen Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese noble woman, for making tea popular with the English aristocracy when she married King Charles II in 1661. Beaucoup attribuent à la reine Catherine de Bragance, une noble portugaise, le mérite d'avoir rendu le thé populaire auprès de l'aristocratie anglaise lorsqu'elle a épousé le roi Charles II en 1661. 多くの人が、ポルトガルの高貴な女性であるブラガンサのキャサリン女王が、1661 年にチャールズ 2 世と結婚した際に、イギリスの貴族に紅茶を普及させたことを認めています。 Muitos atribuem à Rainha Catarina de Bragança, uma nobre portuguesa, o mérito de ter tornado o chá popular entre a aristocracia inglesa quando casou com o Rei Carlos II em 1661. At the time, Great Britain was in the midst of expanding its colonial influence and becoming the new dominant world power. 当時、英国は植民地の影響力を拡大し、新たな支配的な世界大国になる真っ最中でした。 Na altura, a Grã-Bretanha estava em plena expansão da sua influência colonial e a tornar-se a nova potência mundial dominante.

And as Great Britain grew, interest in tea spread around the world. イギリスが成長するにつれ、お茶への関心は世界中に広がりました。 E à medida que a Grã-Bretanha crescia, o interesse pelo chá espalhou-se por todo o mundo. By 1700, tea in Europe sold for ten times the price of coffee and the plant was still only grown in China. 1700 年までに、ヨーロッパのお茶はコーヒーの 10 倍の価格で販売され、植物はまだ中国でしか栽培されていませんでした。 Em 1700, o chá era vendido na Europa por um preço dez vezes superior ao do café e a planta ainda só era cultivada na China. The tea trade was so lucrative that the world’s fastest sailboat, the clipper ship, was born out of intense competition between Western trading companies. 茶の貿易は非常に有利だったため、欧米の商社間の激しい競争から、世界最速の帆船であるクリッパー船が誕生しました。 O comércio do chá era tão lucrativo que o barco à vela mais rápido do mundo, o clipper ship, nasceu da intensa concorrência entre as companhias comerciais ocidentais. All were racing to bring their tea back to Europe first to maximize their profits. Tous s'efforcent de rapporter leur thé en premier en Europe afin de maximiser leurs profits. 利益を最大化するために、すべてが最初にヨーロッパにお茶を持ち帰ろうと競争していました。 Todos estavam a correr para trazer o seu chá para a Europa em primeiro lugar para maximizar os seus lucros. At first, Britain paid for all this Chinese tea with silver. 当初、英国はこの中国茶をすべて銀で支払った。 No início, a Grã-Bretanha pagou todo este chá chinês com prata.

When that proved too expensive, they suggested trading tea for another substance, opium. それが高すぎることが判明したとき、彼らはお茶を別の物質であるアヘンと交換することを提案しました. Quando isso se revelou demasiado caro, sugeriram trocar o chá por outra substância, o ópio. This triggered a public health problem within China as people became addicted to the drug. Este facto desencadeou um problema de saúde pública na China, uma vez que as pessoas se tornaram dependentes da droga. Then in 1839, a Chinese official ordered his men to destroy massive British shipments of opium as a statement against Britain’s influence over China. その後、1839年、中国の役人は、中国に対する英国の影響力に対する声明として、大量の英国のアヘンの出荷を破壊するよう部下に命じました. Depois, em 1839, um oficial chinês ordenou aos seus homens que destruíssem enormes carregamentos britânicos de ópio como forma de protesto contra a influência britânica na China. This act triggered the First Opium War between the two nations. Este ato desencadeou a Primeira Guerra do Ópio entre as duas nações. Fighting raged up and down the Chinese coast until 1842 when the defeated Qing Dynasty ceded the port of Hong Kong to the British and resumed trading on unfavorable terms. Les combats font rage le long de la côte chinoise jusqu'en 1842, date à laquelle la dynastie Qing, vaincue, cède le port de Hong Kong aux Britanniques et reprend le commerce dans des conditions défavorables. 1842 年に敗北した清王朝が香港の港をイギリスに割譲し、不利な条件で貿易を再開するまで、戦闘は中国沿岸で激怒しました。 Até 1842, a dinastia Qing, derrotada, cedeu o porto de Hong Kong aos britânicos e retomou o comércio em condições desfavoráveis. The war weakened China’s global standing for over a century. A guerra enfraqueceu a posição global da China durante mais de um século.

The British East India company also wanted to be able to grow tea themselves and further control the market. A Companhia Britânica das Índias Orientais também queria poder cultivar chá e controlar ainda mais o mercado. So they commissioned botanist Robert Fortune to steal tea from China in a covert operation. Ils ont donc chargé le botaniste Robert Fortune de voler du thé en Chine dans le cadre d'une opération secrète. そのため、彼らは植物学者のロバート・フォーチュンに秘密工作で中国からお茶を盗むよう依頼しました。 Por isso, encarregaram o botânico Robert Fortune de roubar chá da China numa operação secreta. He disguised himself and took a perilous journey through China’s mountainous tea regions, eventually smuggling tea trees and experienced tea workers into Darjeeling, India. Il s'est déguisé et a entrepris un voyage périlleux à travers les régions montagneuses de Chine, pour finalement introduire clandestinement des théiers et des travailleurs du thé expérimentés à Darjeeling, en Inde. Disfarçou-se e fez uma perigosa viagem através das regiões montanhosas de chá da China, acabando por contrabandear árvores de chá e trabalhadores experientes em chá para Darjeeling, na Índia. From there, the plant spread further still, helping drive tea’s rapid growth as an everyday commodity. À partir de là, la plante s'est encore répandue, contribuant à la croissance rapide du thé en tant que produit de consommation courante. そこから、植物はさらに広がり、日常の商品としてのお茶の急速な成長を後押ししました. A partir daí, a planta espalhou-se ainda mais, ajudando a impulsionar o rápido crescimento do chá como um produto de consumo diário.

Today, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and from sugary Turkish Rize tea, to salty Tibetan butter tea, there are almost as many ways of preparing the beverage as there are cultures on the globe. Aujourd'hui, le thé est la deuxième boisson la plus consommée dans le monde après l'eau. Du thé sucré de Rize en Turquie au thé salé au beurre tibétain, il existe presque autant de façons de préparer cette boisson qu'il y a de cultures sur le globe. 今日、お茶は水に次いで世界で 2 番目に多く消費される飲料であり、甘いトルコのリゼ茶から塩辛いチベットのバター茶まで、地球上の文化とほぼ同じ数の飲料の準備方法があります。 Atualmente, o chá é a segunda bebida mais consumida no mundo, a seguir à água, e desde o açucarado chá turco Rize até ao salgado chá de manteiga tibetano, existem quase tantas formas de preparar a bebida como culturas no mundo.