In the past decade, the popularity of green tea has increased ten fold – in the west – owing to both the scientific studies elucidating its health benefits and the widely marketed health boons of drinking green tea. These health benefits, however, have been documented in China as early as the Han dynasty and in Japan since the 9th century. The first detailed works on tea are found in the Ch'a Ching, written by the Chinese author Lu Yu in 780 A.D (I think). It details the preparation and the development of tea, as well as a historical summary of tea and famous early tea plantations. The work features illustrations of tea making utensils and historians suppose that the book inspired the Buddhist priests in the creation of the Japanese tea ceremony. In Japan, Kakuzo Okakura posited in The Book of Tea, that ‘Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage’, based on early manuscript recorded uses of green tea in China as both panacea and food preservative.
Anyhow,
Cheers