We hear many interesting stories about the origin of tea. If we believe these legends, tea was discovered around 5000 years ago in China. The Chinese emperor Shen Nung discovered tea by accident when a tea leaf blew and fell into the emperor’s pot of boiling water. When the emperor drank that tea infused water, it tasted very good and filled his body with energy. Since then, tea started being used as a tonic and for medicinal purposes. It took many thousand years for tea to become a recreational drink and gradually it became the most popular beverage of China.

The second and popular story of is believed both in India as well as Japan.  According to this tale, tea was created by Buddha himself. When Buddha was on a pilgrimage to China, he had vowed to meditate for nine long years without rest. But, he fell asleep after some time and couldn’t complete his meditation. He was very disappointed and is said to have sliced his eyelids and thrown them to the ground. These eyelids gradually took root and germinated into a plant with eyelid shaped leaves. When Buddha chewed these leaves, his fatigue vanished instantly. This plant is believed to be the first tea plant which Buddha carried with him to India and Japan.

This story is loved by everyone. The Chinese love it because the place mentioned in the tale where Buddha was meditating, was in the Shaolin temple; Japanese love it because they say that although tea originated in China, but Buddha brought it to Japan, and that is the place where he later, died; Indians love it because Buddha was from India and so, the origin of tea seems to be related to India. This story also builds a strong connection between tea and meditation.

Another interesting legend about tea explains how tea entered Europe.  Long ago when tea was unknown in the European Countries, a young sailor once came back from India. He had an old mother who stayed in Great Britain. This sailor would always carry an unusual gift for his mother whenever he returned home. This time, he got her a bag of tea from India. He handed over the bag of tea to her but didn’t realise that the mother didn’t know how to prepare it. The mother liked the smell of tea and invited her friends over to come and try it. When her friends came, she offered them cakes, fruits and tea leaves in a plate.

When the sailor entered the living room, he saw her mother and her friends eating cakes and tea leaves with salt and butter. They pretended as if they were liking the taste of tea leaves but it was evident, they were not.  The sailor went closer and asked, “where is the tea, mom?”  His mother pointed to the tea leaves in the plate. “These are only the tea leaves, where is the water?” asked the sailor. I threw away the water of course,” replied his mother. The sailor then showed her how to prepare tea and they loved its taste and flavour.

These stories are legends and have been passed on for generations. They might not have any factual evidence and therefore are for entertainment purpose only.