History

According to Lu Yu, whose writings include the book “Tea Classics in the Tang Dynasty," Chinese tea has enjoyed more than 4000 years of history.

Tea has found many uses thoughout Chinese history. It was used for offerings in the West Zhou period and medicine in the Warring period. During the West Han dynasty, it became a major commodity. In the 300 years between the Three Kingdoms period and the Northern and Southern Dynasties Buddhism became very popular. Buddhists used tea to relieve sleep, so tea trees were planted along the valleys and around temples. Not until the Tang dynasty did tea become popular in the general population. During the Ming dynasty, tea trade began to play an important role in the economy of the government. As a result the "Tea and Horse Bureau" was set up to supervise the tea trade.

Elements of Chinese martial arts originated in the distant past as simple blocking and striking techniques. The first documented form of Chinese martial arts, classical Chinese wrestling, is noted in the texts written about the legendary Yellow Emperor, Huang Ti, who lived in the first half of the third millennium B.C. Over the ensuing years, other forms of Chinese martial arts evolved.

Bodhidharma

In about 525 A.D., a holy man named Bodhidharma left his monastery in Southern India to spread the Buddhist faith to China, later called Ch'an Buddhism. (Ch'an is the Chinese translation for the Sanskrit word "dhyana" meaning yogic concentration. Also known as Zen.). After traveling hundreds of miles to reach Northern China and crossing the Himalayan mountains, he crossed the Yangtze River and headed North to Loyang, the capital of Honan Province.