66 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. IV. 
CHAPTER IV. 
Sung-lo-shan — Its Priests and Tea — Its Height above the Sea — 
Rock Formation — Cultivation of the Tea-shrub — Mode of pre- 
serving 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' K, 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 manu- 
factured. 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." 
