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Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West
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Product Description
Liquid Jade’s rich narrative history explores tea in all its social and cultural aspects. Entertaining yet informative and extensively researched, Liquid Jade tells the story of western greed and eastern bliss. China first used tea as a remedy. Taoists celebrated tea as the elixir of immortality. Buddhist Japan developed a whole body of practices around tea as a spiritual path. Then came the traumatic encounter of the refined Eastern cultures with the first Western merchants, the trade wars, the emergence of the ubiquitous English East India Company. Scottish spies crisscrossed China to steal the secrets of tea production. An army of smugglers made fortunes with tea deliveries in the dead of night. In the name of “free trade” the English imported opium to China in exchange for tea. The exploding tea industry in the eighteenth century reinforced the practice of slavery in the sugar plantations. And one of the reasons why tea became popular in the first place is that it helped sober up the English, who were virtually drowning in alcohol. During the nineteenth century, the massive consumption of tea in England also led to the development of the large tea plantation system in colonial India – a story of success for British Empire tea and of untold misery for generations of tea workers.
Liquid Jade also depicts tea’s beauty and delights, not only with myths about the beginnings of tea or the lovers’ legend in the familiar blue-and-white porcelain willow pattern, but also with a rich and varied selection of works of art and historical photographs, which form a rare and comprehensive visual tea record. The book includes engaging and lesser-known topics, including the exclusion of women from seventeenth-century tea houses or the importance of water for tea, and answers such questions as: “What does a tea taster do?” “How much caffeine is there in tea?” “What is fair trade tea?” and “What is the difference between black, red, yellow, green, or white tea?”
Connecting past and present and spanning five thousand years, Beatrice Hohenegger’s captivating and multilayered account of tea will enhance the experience of a steaming "cuppa" for tea lovers the world over.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #84273 in Books
- Published on: 2007-01-09
- Released on: 2007-01-09
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 336 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this lively, exhaustive survey of the history and politics of tea, Hohenegger travels from ancient Asia to 15th century Europe to present day concerns about fair trade practices and organic farming. Focusing mainly on the drink's most enthusiastic supporters, the Chinese and the British, Hohenegger uses tea to tell no less than the "the story of the traumatic encounter and clash of cultures between East and West." Trailing tea over continents and centuries as it grows in popularity and becomes a power unto itself-in the form of the East India Tea Company-Hohenegger covers an interesting mix of topics, including Zen Buddhism, the Opium Wars, the first and only "tea spy," and, of course, the rise and fall of the British Empire, each of which were integral in the beverage's journey from storied "elixir of immortality" to simple commodity. The book's third part, a series of brief discussions on topics more typically the purview of purists, such as water quality, the role of the tea tester and the ongoing debate between the opposing MIF (Milk In First) and TIF (Tea In First) camps, is surprisingly engaging. Told with authority and affection, this narrative history is a stimulating treat.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
“This work at first appears to be a historical survey, but Hohenegger-who will curate a related traveling 2009 exhibition on tea history-offers more of a social history of tea (with plenty of miscellany thrown into the pot). While the author does explore the emergence of the humble tea leaf as a global force, she equally touches on the aesthetic appreciation of tea in ancient and modern cultures. Often a mix of myth and history, the text, broken into short chapters, leads from Asia to Europe, weighing tea’s significance through the centuries. … Overall, the author’s light, humorous style is welcome and refreshing ….”– Elizabeth Morris, Library Journal
“…Its [Liquid Jade’s] real strength and appeal, you see, lies in its exhaustive and entertaining thoroughness. … Frankly, I have to admit that I had no idea that there was so much to say about tea. … Covering everything from the mythical birth of tea to the tea ceremony to the tea bag, and including everything in between by also focusing on tea’s relationship to medicine, politics, culture, and religion, Liquid Jade is “a lively exploration of the world’s most consumed beverage - in all its historical and cultural aspects.” So, do yourself a favor and serve up a steaming cuppa for yourself, relax in a comfortable chair, and spend a few hours with this refreshing narrative history.”– Bookloons
http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/gf/gf070120sugar_substitutes_th
KPBS Radio (NPR) – These Days with Tom Fudge – Feb. 15, 2007
http://www.kpbs.org/radio/these_days?id=7383
http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/listings/2007/05/airtalk_20070528.shtml
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Scholarly And Delightful To Read
This study of tea is a fine example of why so many people love history. Beatrice Hohenegger has taken something people use every day but rarely give more than a passing thought to and traced its history back thousands of years, encountering many strange byways and interconnections which link it to a much larger story. This, not the stereotypical long dry lists of battles and kings some unfortunates associate with the subject, is what makes history fascinating.
Liquid Jade is divided into four segments. In the first Hohenegger studies the origins of tea drinking in East Asia, describing the many legends of how tea first became the indispensable drink of the aristocracy and then the general population. I laughed at the stories of tea being picked by specially trained monkeys and by young girls deprived of spicy foods lest they contaminate the plants' aroma, and I was intrigued to read of tea's connections to the development of Buddhism (particularly Zen), Confucianism, and Daoism.
The second segment is devoted to tea's arrival in the West. Here we see the Europeans being introduced to and falling in love with tea, with a few unhappy missteps (A Portuguese woman boiled some tea leaves, threw away the water, and served the leaves to her unfortunate guests!) Once again Hohenegger does a fine job linking tea to the larger historic picture, identifying connections to the development of imperialism and colonization, and to the crazes for porcelain and opium.
In the third part Hohenegger providews a miscellany of details and trivia about tea, including the invention of tea-bags and iced tea, the ongoing controversy between those who advocate MIF or TIF, and the class differences between High and Low tea. I enjoyed this part best just because of the variety and scope of the information. Finally, in the fourth part Hohenegger examines tea and tea production today, describing the impact of terrorism in some tea growing areas, the role of environmentalism, and continuing concerns for the plight of tea workers.
Hohenegger writes with great detail and a light touch of humor now and then. Her scholarship is impeccable and made approachable by her fine writing style and dry wit. I hope we see more from her in the future.
Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West
Beatrice Hohenegger has written history of the tea trade between Asia and the West that is well researched and scholarly, but reads, at times, like an adventure novel complete with a Scottish spy. She goes to the roots of what we now call globalization, and exposes it's truly dark practices, as the East India Company establishes the first global corporate business model. What she is able to do, quite effectively, is move the history, that most of people view in a detached, it happen long time ago way, and place in squarely in our 21st century tea cabinets. She reminds us that before there was oil dominating geopolitical dynamics, there was tea and opium. Still, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world next to water and be with use long after the oil drys up.
It is clear to see that she has discovered the sense of wonder and adventure that has entranced tea devotees for thousands of years, inspired great philosophers and poets, motivated great crimes and wars, and helped to shape the scope history of the world for the last five hundred years. She does a good job of passing that on to the reader. She passes on the roots of tragedy, fueled by hubris and greed, that brought down the last Chinese Dynasty, and created the sundown for the British Empire, all for a cup of tea.
She also offers some solutions that point us to a future of global sustainability, in the case of tea, fair trade, organics, quality, and business integrity. It would seem that in her discovery of tea, she has also come to care for and be an advocate for the poor country people that have suffered and continue to suffer from the tea trades bitter cruelty. She does so with a writing skill that keeps you turning pages, without becoming heavy handed or preachy .
It is surprising that most people of have such limited understanding of the historical significance of tea, but that will surely change after reading Liquid Jade. I have often been frustrated by the lack of good tea literature about tea in English, but we can hope that Beatrice Hohenegger's hard work will raise the standards for future books on tea and tea culture. Reading her book may start that tea adventure for you, or if you already on that road add to your experience.
Austin Hodge
President
Seven Cups Tea
[...]
The best tea book
I spent 23 years on tea plantations since 1974. I started my tea trading business in 1998 after leaving plantations. Then I started my tea books library after seeing a very large volume of tea literature in China, which I started visiting regularly since 2004.
This book is the best one I have seen which narrates the world transition of tea scene in the most lucid way.
