History of China
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Han Dynasty Sui Dynasty Tang Dynasty Song Dynasty Ming Dynasty Qing Dynasty
| Year | Dynasty | Comments | Representative Story | Tea in the history | |
| Before 2070 BC | Prehistoric time |
Tea drinking before the Han Dynasty was not very popular in China. However, there were many legends about famous people and tea, such as Shen Nong (the Holly Farmer) used the tea as an antidot for many poisonous herbs. In this period tea was used as a type of herb or ceremonial material rather than a drink. In the Zhou Dynasty, tea was first used as a royal contribution in about 1000BC. |
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| 2070BC - 1600 BC | Xia Dynasty | ||||
| 1766 BC-1050 BC | Shang Dynasty | ||||
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1122BC - 221BC Zhou Dynasty |
1122BC-771BC | Western Zhou | During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty the whole country was divided into many small kingdoms. Such as Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin States, the Qin finally united China in 221BC and established the Qin dynasty. | Hero. This movie depicts a story happened in the late Warring States Periods, right before the Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di united China in 221 BC. | |
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Eastern Zhou 770BC-221BC |
720BC-481BC Spring & Autumn Period |
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480BC-221BC Warring States Periods |
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| 221BC-206BC | Qin Dynasty | The Great Wall was built in the Qin Dynasty. Today, a small section of the Qin Great Wall was still standing in the Gansu Province | |||
| 206BC - 220 AD | 206BC - 9 AD | Western Han |
Tea and tea drinking recorded in many books. Tea became a drinking enjoyed by every social class, especially the noble people. Some simple procession method had been invented. There was also the first record of the tea trading in China. |
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| 9-24 AD | Xin Dynasty | ||||
| 24-220AD | Eastern Han | ||||
| 220AD - 280 AD | The Three Kingdoms | China was divided into three major kingdoms: Wei, Shu and Wu | Tea became a popular drink in China. | ||
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265-420 AD Jin Dynasty |
265-316AD | Western Jin | There were some other small kingdoms in China called "the Sixteen Kingdoms" although there were more than sixteen there. | ||
| 317-420AD | Eastern Jin | ||||
| 420-589 AD | Southern and Northern Dynasties | China was divided into two parts: South and North. There were various short-term dynasties in both South and North China. | |||
| 581-619 AD | Sui Dynasty |
- The Sui and Tang Dynasties was a
golden era for the tea culture. Tea has become the most welcome drink in
the daily lives. - Tea was processed to be tea bricks and cooked with flavors together. - Tea had become a royal contribution and this rule continued until the early 20th century. - The Tea Saint Lu Yu wrote the first tea academic book "The Classic of the Tea". - Specialized tea equipment was created, including porcelain, pottery and metal equipment. White porcelain appeared. - The central government used the Tea-Horse Trading to control the economy of the remote minority areas. This trading had continued for almost 700 years until the early Qing Dynasty. |
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| 618-907 AD | Tang Dynasty | House of Flying Daggers | |||
| 907-960 AD | Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms | this is another chaotic time of China's history. There were many dynasties and kingdoms, all of them existed for only a short time. | |||
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960-1279 AD Song Dynasty |
960-1127 AD | Northern Song |
At the same time there were
several other strong regimes in North China: Liao Dynasty 907-1125AD Jin Dynasty 1115-1234 AD Western Xia Dynasty 1032-1227 AD |
- Tea procedure was simplified,
tea was cooked without flavors. - Tea competition became a popular game. - Tea was processed into both compressed tea bricks or dispersed tea. - Dark colored equipment was used more than light or white color because the tea competition needed dark equipment to be the background color of the tea soup. |
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| 1127-1279 AD | Southern Song | ||||
| 1279-1368AD | Yuan Dynasty | Genghis Khan | |||
| 1368-1644 AD | Ming Dynasty | The Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was built in the Ming Dynasty and continued to be used as a royal palace in the later Qing Dynasty. |
- Dispersed tea was used instead of compressed tea. - Tea was simmered instead of stewed. - Tea was subdivided into six groups: green tea, oolong tea, black tea, white tea, compress tea and flower scent tea, according to its color or processing procedure. - Zisha (purple sand) was invented to be one of the primary materials of the tea equipment. |
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| 1636-1911 AD | Qing Dynasty | Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon |
- The drinking method and tradition of tea were most close to today. - Many tea houses have been well kept till today, which recall us the tea tradition and life style of the old times. |
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| 1911- | Republic of China | in 1949 the Republic of China government of defeated in the civil war and moved from mainland to Taiwan Island. It had co-existed with P.R.China till today. | |||
| 1949- | People's Republic of China | Many new method, ceremony and tea products have been developed. Tea has been a popular drink all over the world. | |||
