Produced by Charlie Howard and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) [Illustration: LO FONG LOH, C.I.C.S. SECRETARY TO THE CHINESE EDUCATIONAL MISSION, IN EUROPE.] [Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF MR. LO FONG LOH’S PREFATORY NOTES IN THE CHINESE HING SHOO, OR RUNNING HAND; FOR TRANSLATION, SEE FOLLOWING PAGES] TEA ITS MYSTERY AND HISTORY. TEA ITS MYSTERY AND HISTORY BY SAMUEL PHILLIPS DAY, _Author of “Food Papers: a Popular Treatise on Dietetics,” etc._ WITH A PREFACE IN CHINESE AND ENGLISH BY LO FONG LOH, C.I.C.S., _Secretary to the Chinese Educational Mission in Europe_. ILLUSTRATED. “The Sovereign drink of Pleasure and of Health.” BRADY. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO., STATIONERS’ HALL COURT. 1878. _Price One Shilling._ TO THE LOVERS OF PURE TEA, THIS TREATISE IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. [Illustration] CONTENTS. PAGE PREFACE IN CHINESE. NOTES ON THE CHINESE LANGUAGE ix EXTRACT FROM MR. LO FONG LOH’S JOURNAL xii CHAPTER I. LEGENDARY ORIGIN OF THE PLANT 17 CHAPTER II. INTRODUCTION OF TEA INTO ENGLAND 27 CHAPTER III. APPRECIATION OF THE LEAF 36 CHAPTER IV. THE PLANT BOTANICALLY CONSIDERED 39 CHAPTER V. HISTORY OF THE TEA TRADE 48 CHAPTER VI. THE COLOURING OF THE LEAF 57 CHAPTER VII. SOCIAL CHARACTER OF THE BEVERAGE 60 CHAPTER VIII. THE “DRINK OF HEALTH” 70 CHAPTER IX. THE VIRTUES OF THE LEAF 78 CHAPTER X. A CUP OF TEA 90 [Illustration] [Illustration] NOTES ON THE CHINESE LANGUAGE. The Chinese writing is eminently picturesque; and as the language admits of no alphabet, all ideas and objects are conveyed through the medium of groups of characters, each group representing a series of impressions, or opinions. By an ingenious and elaborate combination of strokes, upwards of 40,000 distinct symbols are perfected. This vast array has given rise to the amusing, but erroneous notion, that the Chinese pass their lives in learning to read; so that old and infirm scholars, after having devoted all their days to its accomplishment, have departed this life with the task undone.