86 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. 



Chap. V. 



CHAPTER V. 



Sung-lo-shan — Its priests and tea — Its height above the sea — Bock 

 formation — Flora of the hills — Temperature and climate — 

 Cultivation of the tea-shrub — Mode of preserving its seeds — The 

 young plants — Method of dyeing green teas — Ingredients employed 

 — Chinese reason for the practice — Quantity of Prussian blue and 

 gypsum taken by a green-tea drinker — Such teas not used by the 

 Chinese — Mr. Warrington's observations. 



The hill of Sung-lo, or Sung-lo-shan, is situated in 

 the province of Kiang-nan and district of Hieu-ning, 

 a town in lat. 29° 56' N., long. 118° 15' E. It is 

 famous in China as being the place where the green- 

 tea shrub was first discovered, and where green tea 

 was first manufactured. In a book called the ' Hieu- 

 ning-hien chy,' published a d. 1693, and quoted by 

 Mr. Ball, there is the following notice of this place : — 



" The hill or mountain where tea is produced is 

 Sung-lo mountain. A bonze of the sect of Fo taught 

 a Kiang-nan man, named Ko Ty, the art of making 

 tea, and thus it was called Sung-lo tea. The tea got 

 speedily into great repute, so that the bonze became 

 rich and abandoned the profession of priest. The 

 man is gone, and only the name remains. Ye men 

 of learning and travellers who seek Sung-lo tea may 

 now search in vain, that which is sold in the markets 

 is a mere counterfeit." 



Sung-lo-shan appears to be between two and three 



