A long time ago in the century of 2737 BC legend has it that there was a Chinese Emperor named Shen Nung who was a ruler and culture hero, obsessed in finding and preserving the true qualities of life.  He was known as the “Divine Healer” and “Divine Farmer”.  Also known as the Yan Emperor (炎帝) or the Emperor of the Five Grains 五穀先帝

He would experiment with herbs and plants to discover healing properties to be used for various causes.  One of his discoveries was the Camillia Seninsis plant.  Accidently burning tea twigs, which were carried up from the fire by the hot air, floated into his cauldron of boiling water and discolored the water.

This process interested the Emperor and he took a sip of the colored hot water with burnt leaves floating in the pot.  After drinking the cup he declared that it gave him vigor of the body as well as contentment of mind.  Hence the first discovery of tea and the benefit to good health was found.

He is said to have tasted hundreds of herbs to test their medicinal value and power. The most well-known work attributed to Shen Nung is The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic

This work is considered to be the earliest Chinese pharmacopoeia. It includes 365 medicines derived from minerals, plants, and animals. Shen Nung is credited with identifying hundreds of medical (and poisonous) herbs by personally testing their properties, which was crucial to the development of Traditional Chinese medicine. Legend has it that Shen Nung had a transparent body and thus could see the effects of different plants and herbs on himself.

This iconic 1846 lithograph by Nathaniel Currier was entitled "The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor"; the phrase "Boston Tea Party" had not yet become standard. Contrary to Currier's depiction, few of the men dumping the tea were actually disguised as American Indians

The Boston Tea Party arose from two issues confronting the British Empire in 1773: the financial problems of the British East India Company, and an ongoing dispute about the extent of Parliament's sovereignty over the British American colonies. The North Ministry's attempt to resolve these issues produced a showdown that would eventually result in revolution.

 The Tea Party was the culmination of a resistance movement throughout British America against the Tea Act, which had been passed by the British Parliament in 1773. Colonists objected to the Tea Act for a variety of reasons, especially because they believed that it violated their constitutional right to be taxed only by their own elected representatives. Protestors had successfully prevented the unloading of taxed tea in three other colonies, but in Boston, embattled Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to allow the tea to be returned to Britain. He apparently did not expect that the protestors would choose to destroy the tea rather than concede the authority of a legislature in which they were not directly represented.

The Boston Tea Party was a key event in the growth of the American Revolution. Parliament responded in 1774 with the Coercive Acts, which, among other provisions, closed Boston's commerce until the British East India Company had been repaid for the destroyed tea. Colonists in turn responded to the Coercive Acts with additional acts of protest, and by convening the First Continental Congress, which petitioned for repeal of the acts and coordinated colonial resistance to them. The crisis escalated, and the American Revolutionary War began near Boston in 1775.

1789 engraving of the destruction of tea

Tea was a favorite beverage of many presidents of the United States.  Our founding father President George Washington would enjoy a cup of tea in his own designed tea cup and saucer.  Replicas can be purchased in our Tea Wares section.