Tea classics
Tea as a beverage was first consumed in China. The earliest extant mention of tea in literature is the Classic of Poetry, although the ideogram used (Tu, 荼) in these texts can also designate a variety of plants, such as sowthistle and thrush.
Chinese literature contains a significant number of ancient treatises on tea. Together, there exist approximately one hundred monographs or treatises on tea published from the Tang dynasty through the end of the Ming dynasty. The more famous books on tea are listed below.
Chinese tea classics
Tang Dynasty
The Classic of Tea (茶经) by Lu Yu, 780.
Report on Water for Brewing Tea by Zhang Youxin, 814.
Records of Tea Picking (采茶录 Chai Cha Lu) by Wen Tingyun (温庭筠), 860.
Song Dynasty
The Record of Tea (茶录) by Cai Xiang (蔡襄), 1049.
Report on Tasting of East Brook Tea (东溪试茶录 Dong Qi Shi Cha Lu) by Song Zian (宋子安), 1064.
Treatise on Tea (大观茶论) by Emperor Song Huizong (宋徽宗), 1107.
Record of Xuan He Era Tribute Tea in The North Farm (宣和北苑贡茶录 Xuan He Bei Yuan Gong Cha Lu ) by Xiong Fan (熊蕃).