12 EARLY GEOGRAPHICAL 



deference to certain prevailing popular opinions 

 and tradition, and partly, perhaps, to give a greater 

 eclat to his history, by connecting it with one of 

 the most celebrated and stirring periods of the 

 Chinese annals, has placed that discovery in the 

 dynasty of Han.* 



It is further remarked by the same author, and 

 also by other authorities, that the tea plant was 

 discovered in the Mong-shan district of the pro- 

 vince of Szu-chuen in the reign of Te-tsongf : 

 again, in the Singlo Hill, or green tea district of 

 Kiang-nan, during the Sung dynasty J : and in 

 very early times, though the precise age, perhaps, 

 cannot be determined, it was found in the pro- 

 vinces of Fokien, Che-kiang, Kiang-nan, Kiang-sy, 

 in the northern and southern divisions of Hoo- 

 quong, and in Szu-chuen — every where among 

 the hills or mountains. § 



Certain statistical works |] and herbals also enu- 

 merate several places in all the provinces of the 

 empire where tea is produced, as far north as 

 Tang-chao-foo, in Shan-tong, 36° 30' N. lat. ; 

 as far south as Canton and Quong-sy, and as far 

 east as the province of Yunnan. The Jesuit 



* a.d. 221 to 279. 



j a. d. 780. So the Pen-csao-kiang-moo, and Kuen Fang Pu. 

 t From the Moo-yuen-chy, a statistical work of that district. 

 § So the Pen-csao-kiang-moo. 



|| The Pen-csao-kiang-moo, Kuen Fang Pu, Iloa-king, and 

 others. 



