Chap. II. 
of the East Indi 
E Sa 
the celebrated Doctor Kiempfer *, wherein he gives us a 
very entertaining Account of the Manner in which the Vir- 
tues of Tea were firft difcovered ; neither is this at all fo- 
reign to my Subjed, fince it is an additional Proof of the 
Veracity of our Author, and clearly points out the Time 
when this Plant came firft into Ufe among the Chine fe , 
and, at the fame time, fully refutes the Objedion that had 
been raifed from this Herb’s not having a proper Cha- 
rader affigned it by the learned. 
44 This Herb, fays be, which the Japonefe call Tsjaa , 
46 has as yet no Charader affigned it by the Literati , but 
46 there are feveral in ufe, fome expreffing only the Sound 
44 of the Word, and others allufive to its Virtues. A- 
44 mong the latter, that is to be accounted, which gives 
44 it the Likenefs of the Eye-lids of Darma , a holy Man, 
44 much famed among them. There is fomething very 
44 witty in this Aliufion, and the Explanation of it de- 
44 ferves the greater Notice, becaufe it very plainly points 
“ out the Time when this Herb firft came into Ufe. 
46 Thus then the Story is told. 
44 This Darma was the third Son of an Indian King, 
44 whofe Name was Koojuwo , and was the Head of a re- 
44 ligious Order inftituted by a famous Indian Saint, 
44 called Sjaka , who flourifihed in the Year before Chrift 
44 1028, and to whom this Darma was the twenty-eighth 
44 Succeffor in a regular Order. It fo fell out, that in 
44 A. D. 519, he was driven into China , where he applied 
44 himfelf entirely to the teaching of Mankind the Know- 
44 ledge of God, and, as he called it, of the only true Re- 
“ ligion, and the foie Means of acquiring Happinefs. He 
44 was not content to enlighten the World only by his 
44 Dodtrine, but ftudied to do it ftill more by his Exarn- 
44 pie, ftriving by the Purity of his Life, the afflidling his 
44 Body, and the bringing all his Paffions under perfedt 
44 Subjedtion, to fecure the Affiftance of the Divine 
64 Grace. He eat nothing but the wild Herbs of the 
44 Field, and which is efteemed the very PerfedUon of 
44 Holinefs in Man, fpent his Nights without Sleep in 
44 the Contemplation of the Supreme Being ; for he con- 
44 fidered it as the higheft Degree of Piety to forego Eafe 
44 and Reft, that his Thoughts might be wholly employed 
44 in meditating upon God. 
44 It fell out, that after many Years watching, he was 
44 fo overcome as to fall fail afleep : His Vow thus violated, 
44 he was fo affiidled when heawaked,that partly to expiate 
44 his Crime, and partly to fecure himfelf from falling 
44 again into what he efteemed fo great a Weaknefs, he 
44 cut off his Eye-lids, as the Inftruments of his Offence, 
44 and threw them in a Fit of holy Zeal upon the Ground. 
“ The next Day coming to the Place where he had in- 
44 ffidted this Punifhment upon himfelf, he faw, with 
44 Amazement, a moft wonderful Transformation, for 
44 behold each of his Eye-lids had taken Root, and had 
44 fprung up into the Shrub called Tea, which hi- 
44 therto the World had never feen, or at leaft Mankind 
44 were unacquainted with its Virtues. 
44 By taking the Leaves of this Herb, but whether the 
44 chewing them, or prepared by Infufion, I cannot fay, 
1 44 he found a wonderful Chearfulnefs of Mind, and a Dif- 
1 44 pofition perfectly fuited to his divine Meditations. As 
! 44 he recommended the Ufe of this Herb to his Difciples, 
44 and as the Benefits derived therefrom were every 
44 where publifhed, the Cuftom of drinking Tea grew 
s “ quickly into Ufe among all forts of People •, and the 
44 mighty Virtues of .'this wonderful’ Herb, became dnh 
44 verfally known and admired. Hence it rs, that as hi- 
therto no certain Character has been affigned for expref- 
44 fing the Herb Tea , and its Virtues, the Cuftom of di- 
44 ftingui fifing it by the Figure of Darma" s Eye-lids has 
44 grown into Practice. 35 So much fays my Author for 
the Name of this Plant. The Story is plainly fabulous 
and extravagant f ; but like the Extravagancies of the 
Eaft, full of Fire, and of that fort of enthiifiaflick Elo- 
quence which conveys Ideas with fuch Force as prevents 
their Impreffions from ever wearing out of the Mind. 
We learn likewife from the firft of our Travellers, that 
at the Time he vifited their Country the Chinefe were per- 
fectly well verfed in the Art of Pottery, and made a kind 
of Porcelain, as fine, ( 3.5 beautiful, and almoft as tranfpa- 
rent as Glafs. It is certain, that for many Ages after this 
we had very dark and confufed Accounts of tins Matter ; 
and the Stories we are told in almoft all the Accounts we 
have of China upon this Subject have apparently the Air of 
Fables, and look as if they were impofbd upon their Au- 
thors by the Chinefe , on purpofe to conceal from them the 
Truth. It is a Point now iiniverfally agreed, that the 
Porcelain formerly made in this Country was infinitely better 
than what has come from thence o f late Years ; but the 
Chinefe themfelves carry this much farther, and maintain, 
that the old China we fo much admire is very far inferior 
to what was made in thefe early Ages. 
DoCtor Kampfer s tells us from the Chinefe Hiftorians, 
that this moft excellent Porcelain was made in a certain 
Hand not far from Formofa , or at leaft of the Earth found 
in that Ifiand, which for the fame Crimes in its Inhabitants, 
has long ago fhared the Fate of Sodom , and lies now 
buried in tire Sea. Yet it feems it is not funk fo deep, but 
that their Fifliermen and Divers frequently bring up Veffels 
of this old Porcelain, which are fold at a moft extravagant 
Price in China and Japan , from a Perfuafion that ciiey not 
only keep Tea better, but even heighten its Qualities, and 
reftore its Flavour when loft by long keeping in other 
Veffels. 
I do not pretend to make myfelf anfwerable for the Truth 
of thefe FaCts, but I mention them only to fihew, that in 
the Opinion of thefe People, who are undoubtedly the belt 
Judges of their own Manufactures, the Porcelain made at 
the Time our Author fpeaks of was really fuperior in Qua- 
lity to any that has been made fince. But if it {liquid be 
demanded, whether any Proof can be had of the Truth of 
this FaCt, exclufive of what our Author delivers, I anfwer, 
there is. For in a Manufcript preferved in the French 
King’s Library, the Credit of which cannot be doubted 
among the Articles of a noble Prefent fent Noureddin by 
Saladin , foon after he became Matter of Egypt , mention is 
made of a Service of China-Ware , confiding of forty Pieces 
of feveral kinds h . It is very true, that this Prtfent was not 
fent till the Year of the Hegira 567, which anfwers to the 
Year of our Lord 1171, which is fome Ages after the 
Time in which our Author wrote ; but then it is to be con- 
fidered, that this China-Ware had been long before brought 
to Egypt y and if it had not been much ftiperior in Beauty 
to what was brought from the fame Country, even at that 
Time, when the Trade to Bajfora was in a flourifhing 
Condition, it would not have been thought worthy the 
Acceptance of fo great a Prince j and therefore when tho- 
roughly confidered, this ObjeClion proves, at leaft in its 
neceffary Confequences, a Confirmation of the FaCt. 
e Amm&mtat. Exotic, p. 608. We (hall have an Opportunity of inferting this learned Writer’s Travels to Japan, in the fecond Volume of this 
' Work ; but the i adage here cited is from another Work of his, which is excellent in its Kind, notwithftanding what fome fuch French Criticks have 
i inimuatea to the contrary. 0 
* 'Father CbaAepwix, m his Hiftory of Japan, blames Doctor Kampfer for inferting this Story, which he calls a ridiculous Fable ; but I beg leave 
to fay, that he had net well confidered the Intention of the Parable, the Genius of the Eaftern Nations or the Eaitern Languages ; for if he kid, he 
would probably have been of another Opinion. There is a wide Difference between Fables in Religion and Fables in Natural Philofophy, efpe- 
r kn ° Wn rS te 77 ’ fo d ™ tr ° duc U with no other View than to convey ufeful Knowledge in an eafv, ftmiliar. and effeaual 
confulted m the framing of this Story or Parable, which declares the Virtues of this Helb, by whom difcovered, 
62 K o° Ur Ie f T nedAuthor telIs us, that the Japonefe Name of this fine Porcelain is Maats ubo, and that the Ifland in 
f wh c 15 was ma e was MaUrt ga Sima. He allures us, that thefe Veffels are of different Sizes, and confequently of different Prices ; the fmaileft are 
■ TG d FT J* ,he '"f 1 « *»«% nx ** .he v % « L 
l i T S 7 hae of . whlC , 1 th 5 re 13 ab0Ut , three m a Pound Steriin s- Thls is very moderate in comparifon of what we are told by 
Maudeijloe in his Travels, p 1 5 6, where he fays, that the Japonefe have Tea-pots that coft them between fix and feven thousand Pounds Then 
' noTCt'but TSk! m 13 ^ thC m " t0 the Yeflb! ’ Wluch waS n0£ a Tea - p0t ’ but a Vea-Caniffer ; the fecond, as to the Sum which wa 
T is Makrizi, which was probably the Surname of its Author ; but as to the particular Subjeft of the Boo! 
I can fay nothing, the Paffage I have mentioned from it being reported by the Abbe Renaudot in his Notes ch oir Author’s, p. zoo. 
4* 
