TITLE:
The Barter Trade and the Development of Tea Culture in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
AUTHORS:
Yuan Yao
KEYWORDS:
Barter Trade, Tea, Opium Wars, Contemporary Tea Culture
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Historical Studies,
Vol.10 No.1,
March
11,
2021
ABSTRACT: Tea, one of the oldest
beverages, moisturises and soothes the throat and promotes the health and
fitness of the human body. Apart from these advantages, tea is also a carrier
of culture that has endured the passage of time. Tea is native to China, and
Chinese tea culture, as a precious form of ethnocultural heritage, has made
important contributions to global tea culture as well. Barter trade has been an
important means of exchange in tea culture, and the way of bartering and the
subjective and objective factors involved in the trade process have had
significantly different cultural impacts. This study on the connection between
the barter trade and the development of tea culture, using case studies from
the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China—with special reference to the time of the
Opium Wars—helps to further explore the Chinese tea culture and comprehend its development
in the contemporary world.