82 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



Thea. These generic terms will be used iiidiscriminatelv in 

 this article. It was formerly supposed that black and green 

 tea were derived from distinct S[>ecies of the tea plant, which 

 were then known as Thea bohca and Thca viridis respectively. 

 But it is now known that both kinds are made from the same 

 plant ; the difference being in the process of manufacture. 

 The essential difference in this respect is that black tea is 

 allowed to ferment before firing, while the green is rapidly 

 dried and fired. It is probable that there were originally 

 only two distinct species of the tea plant; these being 

 Thea sinensis and TJiea assa?)iica^ or the Chinese and the Indian 

 species, and that .the other varieties are due either to hybrida- 

 tion of these, or to changes produced by adaptation to 

 environment, and to cultivation. The Indian species, however, 

 makes the better quality of black tea, while the Chinese 

 produces a better green tea. The Chinese do not speak of 

 black tea, but on account of the color of the infusion which 

 this kind produces, call it "red tea" (,fX '^i Hung ch'a). 



Among the Chinese terms for tea J^ (Ch'a) is the generic 

 one ; but in the colloquial this al\va\-s refers to the infusion, 

 while the article itself is spoken of as :^ ^ (Ch'a-yeh). The 

 character ^ (Ch'^a) does not date beyond the Han dynasty. 

 Before that time the character used for tea was ^ (T'u); 

 but a prince of that dynasty ordered that this character 

 should be no longer pronounced /'?/•, but ch'-a. Afterwards 

 the stroke in the middle part of. the character was left out, 

 thus distinguishing it from the old term. We have a relic of 

 this old word in the Amoy pronunciation of :^, "t^, " from 

 which we have our present English word, which originally 

 was pronounced "tay." The term ^ (T'u) is now used for 

 the sow-thistle {Sonchns oleraceoiis). In proper parlance, the 

 early pickings of the tea leaf are called :^(Ch'a), w.hile the late 

 should be designated ^* (Ming). This latter is the term for 

 tea used in the Pentsao^ as well as for the most part in the 

 classics, and it may frequently be found on tea boxes. The 

 character ^(Ch'uan) is used for the old leaves of the tea plant, 

 which are made into an inferior quality of tea. The name 

 -^ ^ K'u-t'u), or ^ :^ rK'u-ch'a) properly denotes the 

 chicory-leaf, although there is some confusion upon this point. 



