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China has a long history of five thousand
years. Many tradition can be traced by to the pre-historic
time.
Before the Qin (221-206 BC) and Han (206
BC – 220 AD) Dynasty, tea had not become the major drink of
people’s daily lives; therefore there was no special tea
equipment. But the technology of containers had been
developed greatly. In some archaeological site in the new
Stone Age, archaeologists excavated lots of pottery pieces.
This is the earliest record that pre-historic people created
containers by using high temperature on clay.
There are different colors on the
potteries such as red, grey, white or black. The earliest
pottery was red pottery, followed by grey, black and white.
Finally the colored pottery was invented. The early symbol
and patterns on the pottery was used for religion and
witchcraft, but as used as the first decoration.
During the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasty
(from about 4500 BC – 221 BC) the bronze containers were
used widely in China. It was the Bronze Age. However, bronze
was too expensive to be used by ordinary people. Pottery was
still the major material. In central China exquisite black
and white pottery was excavated while in the Southeastern
China hard patterned pottery was used. During the Shang
Dynasty (1766-1050 BC) the ceramic glaze was developed.
However, in the high social class families, bronze
containers were mainly used.
Archaeologists uncovered an East Han
(25-220 AD) tomb in ShangYu, ZheJiang Province. Many
porcelain bowls, pots, cups and trays were discovered. It is
identified as the earliest tea equipment in the world. This
is the first time containers were used particularly for tea.
During the Wei, Jin and South/North
Dynasty, porcelain industry was developed greatly. At the
same time tea was also developed to the whole public as a
common drink. Finally formed the special Chinese Tea
Culture. Porcelain has been one of the major tea equipment
materials since that time.
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