Spread of Tea Cultivation

Timeline

1. c. 900–920Wuyi Mountain area, Fujian · FujianWarfare in the late Tang period drove population southward, and tea cultivation spread from the traditional Ba-Shu and Jianghuai tea regions into Fujian and Lingnan. Fujian tea began to emerge, laying the production foundation for the tribute tea system of the Song dynasty.
2. c. 930–960Kyoto, Japan · KinkiJapanese monks such as Saichō and Kūkai brought back tea seeds and tea-processing knowledge from China. Tea drinking gradually gained popularity among the Heian aristocracy, and trial plantings of tea seeds succeeded in Uji and other places, inaugurating Japan's domestic tea industry.
3. c. 970–1000Beiyuan, Jianzhou · JianzhouAfter unifying China, the Northern Song court established a Tribute Tea Bureau at Beiyuan. The production of compressed tea cakes and the vogue for tea competitions promoted intensive cultivation in the Fujian tea regions, and tea spread from a luxury good to broader social strata.