Origin&Development
起源&发展

After the separation of tea and tian, its drinking style gradually spread from Ba Shu area to the Central Plains, and the planting area was gradually expanded. However, direct drying of tea leaves had a lingering raw green flavour that affected the taste. By the time of the Tang Dynasty, the first tea with the process of steaming green tea, that is, through high temperature pan-firing, which is the prototype of modern tea. During the Tang Dynasty, tea was consumed by crushing tea leaves and boiling them with sesame seeds and peanuts, i.e. the boiled tea method. In the Song Dynasty, the development of tea basically still follow the guidelines of the Tang Dynasty, the elegant enjoyment of more developed. Began to talk about the tea, fire, cooking and drinking effect, there is a decoction of tea, tea powder will be directly boiled in water to bubble how much assessment of the merits of the tea, ‘fighting tea’ style prevailed. In this period, the world's first record of tea planting, production, tasting and drinking monographs, namely, the Tang Dynasty Lu Yu wrote the ‘Tea Classic’.

After the heyday of the development of tea in the Tang and Song dynasties, the Ming and Qing dynasties, tea into the reform era. In 1391 AD, the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang abolited the use of compressed tea and promoted loose leaves tea instead, this changed the way of tea drinking, the reason for such changes, Xiao Jianbing speculated that tea as a social medium gradually enhance the role of the traditional cooking tea hurt, easy to get drunk tea can not be drunk for a long time, is not conducive to socialising, so it must be reformed. From then on, the cooking tea ceremony developed into a tea ceremony, the procedure is also thus reduced, pan-firing green tea slowly replaced the steam green tea. With the development of the production process, the emergence of black tea, white tea, yellow tea, green tea, China's six tea categories eventually formed. It can be said that the Ming and Qing dynasties is the reform period of tea development, but also to a higher, more brilliant level of the period. 

However, from the Ming Dynasty to the present, the method and culture of tea drinking have not undergone any essential changes.

茶与荼分离后，其品饮方式逐渐由巴蜀地区向中原传播，种植面积也逐渐扩大。但直接晾晒的茶叶有挥之不去的生青味，影响了口感。

到唐朝时，出现了第一款具有工艺的茶——蒸青绿茶，即通过高温蒸汽杀青，这也是现代茶叶的雏形。唐朝时茶的饮用方式，是将茶叶碾碎与芝麻、花生等同煮，即煮茶法。

到了宋代，茶的发展基本上仍依循唐代的准则，高雅的享受更发扬光大。开始讲求茶品、火候、煮法及饮效等，出现了煎茶法，将茶粉直接用水冲煮，以泡沫多少评定茶的优劣，“斗茶”之风盛行。在这一时期，出现了世界上第一本记录茶叶种植、生产、品饮的专著，即唐朝人陆羽写的《茶经》。

经过唐宋茶叶发展的鼎盛时代，到了明清，茶叶进入改革时代。公元1391年，明太祖朱元璋废团茶改为散茶，改变了茶的品饮方式，之所以出现这样的变化，肖建兵推测是茶作为社交媒介的作用逐渐提升，而传统的烹煮茶伤身，容易醉茶不能久饮，不利于社交，所以必须进行改革。从此烹煮茶道发展为泡茶道，程序也因而缩减，炒青绿茶慢慢取代了蒸青绿茶。随着制作工艺的发展，相继出现了红茶、黑茶、白茶、黄茶、青茶，中国的六大茶类最终形成。可以说，明清时期是茶叶发展的改革期，也是走向更高、更辉煌层面的时期。

但从明朝至今，饮茶的方法、文化没有发生本质性的变化。