品茗留香 (Ping ming liu xiang): Tea, Art of Tea, China

February 1, 2015-April 30, 2015
Location: Asia Collection

China has a long history with tea. According to legend, the discovery of tea plants was credited to Shennong (literally "Divine Farmer"), who experimented with many hundreds of herbs. In the third and fourth centuries, tea plants had been widely cultivated in China, thus tea drinking became popular, and gradually this habit of drinking tea spread to nomads living north and west of China. In the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD), the art of Chinese tea came into being. Since then, the custom of preparing and drinking tea has been an essential part of daily and social lives of Chinese people; making and enjoying fine tea has frequently appeared in literati's works. This exhibition of texts, illustrations and books selected from the library’s China Collection hopes to give you a glimpse into the world of Chinese tea and its distinctive tea culture.

Presented by Dongyun Ni, Chinese Studies Librarian, and Lulu Feng, Student Assistant to the Chinese Studies Librarian.