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For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World’s Favorite Drink and Changed History by Sarah Rose

By Samantha | Posted Under Book Reviews | Comments (22)

tea.jpg

I love tea. Don’t get me wrong, though: I’m not a tea snob. I actually find loose-leaf to be rather a pain in the rear, and sometimes I really just love a cup of Lipton’s finest. But I drink a cup of hot tea nearly every morning, and when the weather’s cold, I’ll probably have more than one cup throughout the day. My point is, I’m a tea-drinker as opposed to a coffee-drinker, so when I heard about a book about the history of tea (sort of), I was pretty interested, and sure enough, this book does not disappoint.

For All the Tea in China describes a period of about 4-5 years in the mid 1800s, during which a naturalist by the name of Robert Fortune was hired by the East India Company to essentially “steal” tea from China. You see, England and China traded extensively in those days. England provided China with opium, grown in India; China provided England with tea. The East India Company, though, felt that if they only had the raw materials and the know-how, they could produce tea out of India instead. The problem was that the best tea all came from China, and the Chinese tea growers were the only ones who truly knew how to make it good. Thus, Robert Fortune, disguised as a Mandarin, went deep into the Chinese interior, to the best green tea- and black tea-growing areas of the country, and stole tea plants, seeds, and any information regarding the production of tea that he could glean. Once he had the materials, he had to get them back to the coast, onto ships, and safely sent to India. He was also responsible for finding tea-makers and convincing them to go to India in order to grow tea for the East India Company. He was, ultimately, successful.

Sarah Rose’s history mainly tells the story of Fortune’s travels through China; stories that can be read in his own published memoirs. Also of interest, though, are the descriptions of the economic goings-on, the botanical innovations of the time, and the history that evolved out of these activities. The fact that England provided China with opium, for instance, was a fascinating realization to me. They actually fought wars over the stuff! And Mr. Fortune, in addition to bringing tea to India, was also responsible for bringing countless other types of still-popular flora to the Western world. He successfully proved that green tea and black tea come from the same plant (European botanists were convinced that they were merely cousins), and provided evidence that the Chinese green tea producers actually were poisoning their tea by adding Prussian blue and gypsum, which gave the tea a richer green color. He also revolutionized the way that plant life was transported by making important changes to Wardian cases (sealed glasses compartments, kind of like terrariums).

History is often dry stuff, even when a topic of interest is being discussed. By focusing primarily on Robert Fortune, Ms. Rose is able to provide a readable narrative of one man’s “adventures,” while providing the historic and economic context alongside it. Overall, an interesting read; I would have thought that corporate or industrial espionage was a fairly new concept, but it doesn’t really come as a surprise to learn that the East India Company (the world’s first global corporation) was engaging in it during the Victorian era. Also, even though I’m not much of a plant person, learning a bit about the economic importance and high aesthetic value of flora was equally interesting.

The verdict? Worth a read, and not just for tea-lovers. If you’re looking for something easy and non-fiction, give it a try!


For more of Samantha’s reviews, check out her blog, The Blog of Eternal Stench.









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Comments

But I drink a cup of hot tea nearly every morning, and when the weather’s cold, I’ll probably have more than one cup throughout the day.

Pfft, lightweight! I have about 5 cups a day. :)

Must read this!

Posted by: Carrie at January 21, 2011 9:46 AM

Sad but true. Caffeine after about noon ensures that I won't sleep at night. :(

Posted by: Samantha at January 21, 2011 9:48 AM

1. I'm also a tea drinker. I can't drink it after 3 p.m. though, or I can't sleep at night, either.

2. I love grating real ginger into my green tea. Gives it a real kick. Teabags that come with powdered ginger are gross.

3. I gave up coffee when my sister told me it broke her out. I thought she was nuts, but I gave it up for a week and my face cleared up. I was still drinking tea, so it wasn't the caffeine. There's something in the coffee, maybe the acid, that breaks me out.

4. My mother had stained linen napkins, and so I recommended tea staining the whole lot to "antique them." I figured the stains wouldn't show if they were stained all over. Mom calls me to tell me it didn't work. She boiled them in tea for an hour and they didn't stain at all. I asked her what kind of tea she used and she told me lemon herbal. Head desk. Firstly, there's no tannin in herbal tea to stain anything, and secondly, lemon is a bleach. She said, "You mean I have to buy real tea?" Gotta love my Mom.

Posted by: BWeaves at January 21, 2011 9:58 AM

This sounds fascinating and it might just be the perfect gift for my Mum. Thanks for the review.

For the record, my favorite tea is Mighty Leaf Green Tea Tropical. I fact, I think I'll go have another mug.

Posted by: Scully at January 21, 2011 9:59 AM

Another tea-drinker, here, I gave up coffee two years ago this month :) I, however, do favor loose teas (I have a number of handy insulated containers to make it easier to steep). This definitely sounds interesting, thanks for the info!

Posted by: lubeg at January 21, 2011 10:36 AM

England provided China with opium...

I was under the impression we kind of forced it on them. Apparently the Chinese leaders weren't keen on us turning their work force into a country of opium addicts and asked us to stop. That would have sounded reasonable, if only we weren't making money hand over fist...

Posted by: Simon at January 21, 2011 10:44 AM

Sad but true. Caffeine after about noon ensures that I won't sleep at night. :(

Try green tea. It has somewhat less caffeine plus some "calming" stuff. Many people who are kept up by caffeine late in the day do just fine with green tea.

Posted by: BierceAmbrose at January 21, 2011 11:07 AM

Five cups a day?

Harriet Smith, you are also a lightweight.

The kettle is constantly on the boil in my house. I believe I was weaned straight off the bottle (no nipples in our house) and onto tea.

Posted by: PaddyDog at January 21, 2011 11:14 AM

@Simon: Yes, but it didn't start out that way. Additionally, China eventually "stole" opium, anyway.

@BierceAmbrose: Don't like green as much. White is nice, though ...

Thanks for reading, everyone! Glad to know there are some seriously hard-core tea drinkers out there.

Posted by: Samantha at January 21, 2011 11:21 AM

Five cups a day?

Harriet Smith, you are also a lightweight.

Hey now, that's a minimum. I was drinking tea before I was even born! My mother craving it when pregnant with me. I will win the tea battle!

I was given tea as a baby too. I'm sure health professionals these days would frown upon it, but it never did me any harm. Just made me addicted.

Posted by: Carrie at January 21, 2011 11:33 AM

Paddy, you are welcome to join us in my office.
If you aren't offered a cuppa within ten minutes, then you must be invisible.

It have never drunk soo much tea in my life, my back teeth are constantly floating!

Posted by: frank_247 at January 21, 2011 11:33 AM

OK yes, something may have gone wrong with my italics there, but let's not blame the tea.

Posted by: Carrie at January 21, 2011 11:35 AM

Ha, Carrie:

My forty-year-old sister who has multiple health issues (including very high blood pressure, obesity and a back so bad she has had surgery to fuse some vertebrae) recently announced to the family that she was pregnant (against all doctor's advice).

Our mother's response:

"I'll put the kettle on"

Posted by: PaddyDog at January 21, 2011 11:52 AM

It's so nice to find myself in the company of fellow tea drinkers! I actually really like coffee, but I often don't feel well afterward.

At home, when we offer folks tea and they ask what kinds we have, I laugh, because we have a whole tea shelf (plus more in the pantry), and I couldn't possibly rattle off the options.

I drink mostly green tea now (I'm weirdly obsessed with caffeine and not getting too much, but also needing some), but do enjoy black teas and white teas. At this point, most herbal tea is saved for sun tea in the summer.

Also, since I'm sharing, I love my cast iron tea pots--I have large one (black hobnail design) and a small one (nickel-plated--so shiny!).

I have to make myself recycle my Republic of Tea catalogues, because otherwise, I just start coveting fancy teas I can neither afford, nor have room for.

I did a report on the Opium War for world history in the fifth grade, and my recollection is that Simon is correct. the Chinese were all, "Um, we really don't want your opium." And the Brits were all, "The fuck you don't." But, you know, it's been a few years since I did that poster, so there may be some details I'm forgetting.

ANYWAY, Samantha, I liked your review and am intrigued by the book.

Posted by: tamatha at January 21, 2011 12:09 PM

Tea solves everything!

Posted by: Carrie at January 21, 2011 12:10 PM

I've drank tea my whole life. I have an entire shelf dedicated to my tea stash. Scully, that is an awesome brand and one of my favorites! When I want green or black, I use my loose leaf that I get at the Asian Foods store. It's the best green tea I've found and dirt cheap.

Very nice review! I might add this to my read pile.

Posted by: Melody at January 21, 2011 12:12 PM

To all of you who find this post intersting, I highly recommend reading A History of the World in Six Glasses.

Posted by: Ness at January 21, 2011 1:11 PM

Gah! more books to read...
I only drink copious amounts of tea when I'm visiting the mother country, although now that I think about it, visiting my mother also increases the number of cups of tea I ingest. Nothing fancy, though, just an old ceramic pot with 1/2 Early Grey something or other and 1/2 English Breakfast.
Always with a slice of lemon, NEVER with a shot of milk.

I remember getting warm milk with a shot of tea as a child, but I put a stop to that as soon as I was old enough to tell my mom No! [last week]

Posted by: Stella at January 21, 2011 1:27 PM

Also a fellow Tea drinker. My daughter loves drinking tea (she is 9) and when she orders it in resturants we sometimes get strange looks. Someone once even told me "you know thats not good for children" to which I replied "oh but the soda your kids are sucking down is?" Sorry but I don't think a little caffeine is going to harm my daughter as much as all the crap thats in soda! Gotta love people!

Posted by: DebbieM at January 21, 2011 2:21 PM

So, you are surprised that industrial espionage was going on during the 1800s? Oh dear. I hope the shock of hearing that it has been around for about 1500 years, eh, probably even longer, won't kill you.

Read some books on the history of Murano/Venice, Italy, porcelain, craft guilds in the Middle Ages and early Modern Age, how silk came to Europe or how European experts were captured or willingly hired by the Ottoman Empire.

Posted by: capitainejanvier at January 22, 2011 7:36 AM

@ Simon & Samantha:

My understanding of the Opium Wars is that the rising Victorian middle class, flush with new money and a love of stuffy kitsch, wanted silks and porcelain and tea, and wanted them from China. "Maybe we could, you know, tradesies?" England asked. And China said, "Nah. We're good. We don't need...whatever it is you're making." But China did want silver, and that's what England paid China with for a while -- but this wasn't the best solution for England, which was on the gold system, and didn't have a lot of ready silver lying around. So, goods from China cost England even more, because they would have to buy silver from other countries, and then use that silver to buy tea and silk and porcelain from China.

Then, you know, opium.

England had access to read buttloads of opium from India. They started trading addictive opium for the stuff they used to have to trade silver for. And China kinda forgot it wanted silver, because it really loved the opium.

Not everyone loved the opium, though. And those who saw the devastating effect opium was having on China tried a bunch of legislative tricks to stem the tide of it into the country. There's a heartbreaking letter from Lin Zexu to Queen Victoria, where he writes, "Your Majesty has not before been thus officially notified, and you may plead ignorance of the severity of our laws, but I now give my assurance that we mean to cut this harmful drug forever." Only that didn't work, either. (Also, Victoria may or may not even have received the letter. She could be pretty insulated from things when it suited her.)

And...I've gone on too long.

Posted by: Mike B. at January 23, 2011 9:16 AM

The chick who wrote this was on Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys on Sundance.

Posted by: futuredirect at January 23, 2011 6:01 PM