History of tea: China

In 2737, the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung discovered tea by accident. As legend has it, the emperor was sitting under a tree and drinking boiled water when a few leaves from a nearby tree fell into his cup. The tree was Camellia Sinensis, and that was the birth of 'tea'.
Tea drinking was certainly established in China many centuries ago. There were containers of tea found in the tombs dating from the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), but it was under the Tang dynasty (618-906 AD), that tea became firmly established as the national drink of China.

In the late eighth century, tea had become so popular that a writer called Lu Yu wrote the first book entirely about tea, title 'Ch'a Ching' or Tea Classic.

Shortly after the book was published, Japanese Buddhist monks who had travelled to China introduced tea in Japan. And thus was born the 'Tea Ceremony' which was said to be influenced by the rituals described in the book Ch'a Ching.