Who is supposedly credited with bringing tea to China and how did he do it, according to myth?

xfacilitatorx

Not Marco Polo. Apr 10 06, 1:37 AM

DukeDawson

Not Juan Valdez. Apr 10 06, 5:59 AM

lanfranco

There seem to be a couple of stories. One is that the Emperor Shennong, on a journey, noticed that some odd leaves had fallen into his boiling water. Being one of those intrepid sorts that one always finds in legends, he tasted the resulting brew, liked it, and found that it had medicinal properties as well. Another tale is that a Buddhist monk, or even the Buddha himself, was visiting China and cut off his eyelids when he found himself nodding off while trying to meditate. Tea bushes sprang up where the eyelids landed. I think I prefer the first story. See "Tea Creation Myths" on this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea#Tea_culture Apr 10 06, 8:55 AM

Baloo55th

Just out of curiosity, what was the Emperor doing with a cup of boiling water if tea hadn't been discovered? Apr 10 06, 1:43 PM

lanfranco

Well, he was apparently a health nut, who believed that all water should be boiled before drinking. Or so the site says. I don't make these things up. Apr 10 06, 2:03 PM

Baloo55th

Now would I suggest you would? I was just curious as to why he had a convenient cup of boiling (not boiled) water for the leaves of a bush to drop into. This is Baloo in take it apart to see how it works mode... Apr 10 06, 4:53 PM

lanfranco

Oh, I'm not affronted. And to tell you the truth, back then (whenever it was), it was a very good idea to boil your drinking water. In Europe, people drank wine and ale for centuries because the local water supplies were, um, somewhat unreliable. I'm more concerned about the condition of the tea leaves in this story. If they were just falling off the bushes -- well, need I go on? Apr 10 06, 5:06 PM

bull19007

lanfranco is close. Boddhidharma is who I was looking for. According to legend, He came to Shoalin temple to spread the word of Buddha. He was not allowed in. To prove Zen would be beneficial he proceeded to meditate in front of a rock face. In order to not fall asleep, he cut off his eyelids. Where his eyelids fell, tea plants grew. Boddhidharma is credited with bringing zen to china as well as introducing a type of yoga exercise to the monks at shoalin temple which would evolve into Kung Fu. Apr 10 06, 5:29 PM

lanfranco

If you'd looked at the site I posted, you would have seen that Boddhidharma was the monk I mentioned. Apr 10 06, 5:41 PM

Baloo55th

Cutting off his eyelids wouldn't stop him sleeping, only make people think he was awake (unless he'd fallen over as well). Apr 11 06, 7:39 AM